Lockdown and Gospel - Day 12, January 21 (Memorial of Saint Agnes)

(How does today’s Gospel speak to me during this lockdown? Allow me to share a humble reflection.)

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. (Mark 3 :7-8)

The expression "to follow Jesus" could be translated "to become his disciple". Mark points out that these many disciples come from various parts of the Middle East, both pagan and Jewish. Such was the impact of Jesus’s words and deeds of on the people of his day. However, Mark also foreshadows the Church to come, a community of communities marked by a great diversity of ethnicities, languages ​​and cultures.

Often when I hear the word “Church” I think of my home parish; sometimes, I’ll think of the Pope in Rome. This word, however, evokes a much richer reality: hundreds of millions of people from all over the world who share the same faith in Jesus and live out of the conviction that he gives them access to life in abundance. During this lockdown, it does me good to think that I am part of this immense and varied people. I am not alone in praying to God in the name of his Son, Jesus.

Abba, Father, I thank you for this multitude of brothers and sisters that you give me in Jesus. All over the world, people like me are fighting this pandemic by seeking light, consolation and strength in the same Word and in the same Spirit. May your Church be a source of hope and fraternal warmth in the midst of this suffering world.

Amen.