Thursday 20 January 2022

Today is Thursday the 20 January, in the 2nd week of Ordinary time.


Molly Parden, with Bifrost Arts, sings a setting of Psalm 126.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.



Mark 3:7-12

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, 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. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

‘A great multitude from Galilee followed him'. Take a moment to imagine this “great multitude”…. Who is in the crowd? Who stands out to you? Perhaps you are one of them…


Jesus seems to be having a great success here, with crowds, from all over the Holy Land and beyond. What is the most striking sign of his success, do you think?

Now listen again: the story ends with
“he sternly ordered them not to make him known”. Why does Jesus impose silence on the unclean spirits, do you think?

Lastly look inside yourself and see how you are feeling at this moment; then turn those feelings into a prayer to God.

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.