Each week around the Lord’s table we celebrate the fact that we are the People of God, his chosen ones, those whom he has called to be his hands and voice within the creation. To help us live this life we listen each week to the Word of God giving us a glimpse of the world God intends for us, and challenging us to live up to our calling, and each week we are strengthened with the food of life to enable us to be disciples. Today we hear the story of the beginning of Jesus’s ministry: he came proclaiming the good news; he came healing the sick; he came and called people by name to be his followers. If we wanted to think of the life of Jesus in a sound-bite, it would be these tasks: proclaiming, healing, calling. Jesus calls for us to change, change ways of living with one another, change the way we think about the world, others, self. . He invites us to a new life and he empowers us to set out to live that new life, and know that God is close to us, loving and caring.

Let us reflect on who we are, why we have gathered, and ask pardon for our failures as children of God.