Wednesday January 13, 2021 - First week in Ordinary Time - My sheep listen to my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 1, 29-39

Dear Christians! Jesus continues his mission and his work to save men without any discrimination. He saves all who come to Him: this means that we must take our salvation in hand, although there is a part of the Church in the process, we too must act in this direction. It is only by the meeting of these two efforts that salvation can be accomplished and the Pope underlines this in "Fratelli tutti" n.199. We really need this reconciliation effort and it is even required of us. There is also the fact that only those who do not ask for it or do not seek it will be able to receive this salvation, but if we really seek it, by making the necessary efforts, salvation can be accomplished in us.

Look at what Jesus did, working tirelessly to heal the people He met. This confirms his teaching that when He came to the aid of people on a Sabbath day, any day, when a person needs to be saved, he must be saved. He does it for free and does not ask for compensation or remuneration. This is true during these difficult times, which we have lived with the whole world in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, and further strengthens the call of the Holy Father for us to support and help those who are at the forefront in this fight: health workers. Wherever Jesus went or knew there was a need, he was going to do this good deed.

But in the meantime, let's not forget that our primary duty as Christians is to pray, as Jesus taught us in the Gospels. No matter how much work we do, we should be able to organize our time so that there is time for prayer. Prayer is the source of the spiritual strength essential to accomplish a mission. Otherwise, we will waste our time going about incidental things and forgetting the essentials. Whatever tasks we cannot accomplish in a shortage of time, prayer time should not suffer. Often we say to ourselves that we are so overwhelmed with work and we relegate Sunday prayer to the background. Jesus teaches us the place of prayer in his mission, imitating it can only do us good.