The proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the call to repentance

The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mk 1:15).

And all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them (Mk 2:13).

Jesus sees the boats on the shore and gets into one of them. How naturally Jesus steps into the boat of each and every one of us!

When you seek to draw close to our Lord, remember that he is always very close to you, that he is in you: regnum Dei intra vos est (Lk 17:21). The kingdom of God is within you. You will find him in your heart.

Christ should reign first and foremost in our soul. But in order for him to reign in me, I need his abundant grace. Only in that way can my every heartbeat and breath, my least intense look, my most ordinary word, my most basic feeling be transformed into a hosanna to Christ my king.

Duc in altum. Put out into deep water! Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And pay out your nets for a catch!

We have to place our trust in our Lord ‘s words: get into the boat, take the oars, hoist the sails and launch out into this sea of the world which Christ gives us as an inheritance.

Et regni eius non erit finis. His kingdom will have no end.

Doesn’t it fill you with joy to work for such a kingdom?

This point in another language