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Address: 320 Winthrop St, Winthrop, MA 02152

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Call Us: 617-846-7400

Address: 320 Winthrop St, Winthrop, MA 02152

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St. Michael The Archangel Parish

St. Michael The Archangel Parish

  • About
    • Ministers and Staff
    • Facilities
    • History
    • Links
  • News & Events
  • Donations
    • Donate Now
    • Planned Gifts
    • Holiday Meal Donations
    • Holiday Flowers
    • Grand Annual Collection
    • Commitment to Parish Life
    • Planned Gifts
  • Ministries
    • Community Help
    • Baptism
    • Parish Ministries
      • Bereavement Group
      • Collections
      • Eucharistic Ministers
      • Kenyan Community
      • Lectors
      • Liturgy Committee
      • Music Ministry and Choirs
      • RCIA
    • Committees
      • Commitment to Parish Life Committee
      • Buildings and Property Committee
      • Communications and Technology
      • Finance Committee
    • CYO Basketball
    • Weddings
      • Marriage Prep Program
  • Religious Education
    • Confirmation
      • Service – Why is it important?
      • Choosing your Sponsor
      • Choosing a Confirmation Name
  • Contact

Bishop Barron’s Gospel Reflection

MARK 1:12–15
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus goes into Galilee and begins to preach. The first words out of his mouth, as Mark reports them, serve as a sort of summary statement of his life and work: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The moment has arrived, the privileged time, the kairos; something that human beings have been longing for and striving after and hoping to see has appeared, and the time is now for a decision, for action. Jesus’ very first words are a wake-up call, a warning bell in the night, a summons to attention. This is not the time to be asleep, not the time to be languishing in complacency and self-satisfaction, not the time for delaying tactics, for procrastination and second guessing.

In the Byzantine liturgy, we find the oft-repeated call to “be attentive,” and in the Buddhist tradition, there is a great emphasis placed on wakefulness. In the fiction of James Joyce, we often find that moments of spiritual insights are preceded by a great thunderclap, the cosmic alarm shocking the characters (and the reader) into wide-awakeness. The initial words of Jesus’ first sermon are a similar invitation to psychological and spiritual awareness: there is something to be seen, so open your eyes!

Reflect: Is there anything that you have been putting off that you believe Jesus wants you to do? What can you do this week to address your procrastination?

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