Friday 20 January 2023

Today is Friday the 20th of January, in the second week of Ordinary time.

The monks of Pluscarden Abbey sing: Ego vos elegi: ‘I have chosen you out of the world, so that you might go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last.’ As you listen to this chant, hear those words addressed to you, because they are addressed to you. God knows all your strengths and all your weaknesses, and has chosen you to bear fruit for him.

Ego vos elegi de mundo,
ut eatis, et fructum afferatis:
et fructus vester maneat,
alleluja.




Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.


Mark 3:13-19

Jesus went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home.

Again, the brevity of Mark describes what must have been a scene full of emotion and meaning. From the many who follow him and push against him Jesus calls those whom he wanted. The choice may be a surprise, even to them - with their faults, and their misunderstandings. Later Jesus will say: “I have chosen you; you have not chosen me.”


What does this calling mean to you?

As meaningful is their response – which we don’t hear in words but through actions, through their lives…. We will walk with these people through the gospel to the present day.


As we hear the passage again, consider. The call is always there; what might you say about your response?

Talk to Jesus now about your own response to the call. Allow anything to surface naturally that needs to…


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.