GOSPEL TEXT: Mark 1:40–45  Leper’s plea 40 And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus heals leper 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the

GOSPEL TEXT: Mark 1:29–39 Setting 29 And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Simon’s Mother–in–law 30 Now Simon’s mother–in–law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her

GOSPEL TEXT:      Mark 1:21–28 Jesus teaches with authority 21 And they went into Caper’na–um; and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. Jesus encounters unclean spirit 23 And immediately there

THEMES OF THREE SUNDAY READINGS Gospel (Mark 1: 14–20): Invitation to Repent and Believe Introduction: Jesus proclaims that now the Kingdom of God is at hand and invites people to repent and believe the Good News. Mark gives examples of four people who did this. I Reading (Jonah 3: 1–5, 10): Threat & Response At

Today’s commentary is given by Fr Donagh O’Shea OP (http://goodnews.ie). This reading is like rush-hour.  It is full of names, there are lots of people passing by, happening to bump into one another, overhearing a few words by chance.  The snippets of conversation are brief in the extreme, and practical: ‘What are you looking for?’

Today’s commentary is given by Fr Donagh O’Shea OP (http://goodnews.ie). Jesus is there anonymously in the crowd, coming forward with the rest to meet the famous John the Baptist. It is impossible for us to see him as an anonymous person; to us he stands out from every crowd and from the whole human race:

Today’s commentary is given by Fr Donagh O’Shea OP (http://goodnews.ie). “The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.”  This shows that they had no hindsight; they thought of themselves in every way as normal people.  This is their connection with us.  Had they thought themselves special from birth, they

Today’s commentary is given by Fr Donagh O’Shea OP (http://goodnews.ie). When the prophets of Israel spoke of God’s intervention in human history, they imagined it as another thunderous event like Exodus or Mount Sinai.  No one imagined that it would be an event so hidden in ordinariness as the conception of a child.