The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 56: Good News

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

What is the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion really about? Fr. Mark-Mary explains the rich mystery of the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion, revealing the Good News throughout Jesus’ teachings: everything you are seeking and longing for is here. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hi, I'm Father Mark May with Franciscan Friars The Renewal and this is the Rosary In A Year podcast where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary In A Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 56. To download the prayer plan for Rosary In A Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track

your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings with the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year prayer guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, same reflections, and beautiful full-page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on.

The third Luminous Mystery is the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion. Mark 1, verses 14 through 15. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. repent, and believe in the gospel. I'd like our meditation on this third Luminous Mystery to be built upon two foundational truths.

The first is this, and this is going back to what Pope St. John Paul II said in his apostolic letter on the Rosary, where he's introducing the Luminous Mysteries. He reminds us, each of these mysteries is a revelation of the kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. Right? The kingdom of God that is being proclaimed is Jesus.

So when Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is at hand, he's talking about himself. And the second is this, that the proclamation of the kingdom of God is at hand, he's talking about himself. And the second is this, that the proclamation of the kingdom of God is done by both word and deed. It's not just done by saying, here it is, something new is happening.

He actually makes something new happen. And this isn't perfect, but I do think that in our praying of the third Lumis mystery, most of what Jesus says and does actually can fall under the proclamation of the kingdom. For example, his parables, many of the parables are introduced as the kingdom of heaven is like this is a proclamation, a teaching of what the kingdom is, also a breaking through of the kingdom, his teaching, his giving of the law, establishing,

manifesting his authority, giving a new law, his miracles. And I think actually the gospel of Mark is beautiful and a perfect place to understand this. As we look at what immediately follows, right, this initial proclamation, the time is fulfilled and kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. What's the first thing that happened? The first thing that he does is that he calls his first disciples.

He calls Simon and Andrew and James and John. So the first thing he does, and this is the end of the proclamation, is he says come to me. And then look what happens. The next thing that happens is Jesus casts out demons. He manifests his authority. The next thing that happens is that he heals Simon's mother-in-law. That is followed by the statement of like, everyone's looking for you, Jesus. He heals a leper. He heals a paralytic. Then He calls Levi. He calls a sinner. Gives the sinner a new way of living, a new life, a new hope.

And then immediately after that, He establishes, responding to the question about fasting, He identifies as the the bridegroom. And then he refers to himself saying, the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. Like all of this is the proclamation of the kingdom of God. All of this is Jesus manifesting who he is by word and by deed. I am the one that you are looking for.

I am the bridegroom. I am the authority. I am the for. I am the bridegroom. I am the authority. I am the king. I have authority over sickness. I have authority over sin. I've come to call sinners back to repentance. Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom of God. And in his proclamation of the kingdom, he says, and I am this kingdom.

Repent. And believe in the good news. Jesus has come to reveal the fullness of the truth of who we are, of who He is. He has come to give us true and right worship. He has come to bring us to Himself through baptism, ultimately bringing us to a share in His own divine life and in a relationship with His Father. So my brothers and sisters, we look at Him and we look at all he's doing throughout the Gospels and in his public life. And the good news of it, that he is good, that he is Lord, that he is the authority,

that he is the powerful one, that he loves us. We see how tenderly he looks on the lowly, on the outcast, on the sinner. This is the good news. That which we are looking for, we have found. And we have found it in Jesus. Let us believe in this good news, my brothers and sisters. And let us again, let us repent. Today, as we reflect on this mystery,

let's just do a little bit of an examine. Particularly, where are the places in which I am giving authority to that which is not Jesus? That I'm placing my hopes in something other than Jesus. Like, what in my life am I not trusting to Him? Let us repent. Let us turn away and come to Him. My brothers and sisters, the kingdom of God is at hand and that which your heart is seeking for and longing for is at hand. He is here. He is the Lord. He is Jesus. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, everybody, thanks for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing the journey again with you tomorrow. Poco Poco, friends. All right, bye now.