Gospel Reflection: Consequences for our eternal destiny.

 What we choose now has consequences on our eternal destiny

The Christmas Season has ended and the Season of Lent is still some weeks off. We are once again in “Ordinary Time,” as it’s called, and the focus of the Scripture readings this Sunday is on God’s call and the choice we humans have to heed that call or ignore it.

It’s always clear in Scripture that we are never forced by God, but lovingly invited, to take up the invitation to be a follower of the Lord and to give ourselves to a life of love and service of God and neighbour.

An old saying that seems to go well with the idea of this Sunday’s Scripture readings is this: “Time is of the essence”; that is, life is short and what we chose now will have consequences for our eternal life, never losing sight of what is called our “eternal destiny,” where and how we will spend eternity.

Hopefully we want it to be with God and the saints in heaven, but we must be actively pursuing that goal as we pass through this earthly sojourn. The often-used biblical phrase for this notion is this: “Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation” (see, for example, 2 Corinthians 6:2).

Fr Mathew Minisare

Finding bible references online.

CTS New Catholic Bible

2 Corinthians 6: 2 For he says,

"At the acceptable time, I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation."

Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

There are lots of links to the Bible online.  At our weekly Gospel Share we sometimes look at different translations.  

Here is a link to the New Revised Version Catholic Edition (NRVCE) Mark 1 where you can find today's Gospel