Gospel (Mk 1,14-20) - After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and said: «The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; convert and believe in the Gospel." Passing along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting their nets into the sea; they were in fact fishermen. Jesus said to them: "Come after me, I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going a little further, he saw Giacomo, son of Zebedèo, and Giovanni his brother, while they were also repairing the nets in the boat. And immediately he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the boys and went after him.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Word of God whose feast is celebrated today is truly "our daily bread", as we recite in the Our Father prayer, nourishment for our thoughts, and light for our steps as the psalms often make us say. It was what the Second Vatican Council had hoped for: the Bible had to return to the hands of the faithful, of each believer and in their own language. In the small church of Sant'Egidio the two altars - that of the Word of God with the Bibles in different languages and that of the poor with the numerous crosses coming from places of pain - one in front of the other, remind us of the fidelity to these inseparable cults, to these two indispensable loves: love for the Bible and love for the poor. And it is no coincidence that Pope Francis, in addition to the feast of the Word of God, established the feast of the poor, which is celebrated at the end of the liturgical year on the Sunday preceding the feast of Christ, King of the universe. This of the Word is celebrated at the beginning of ordinary time when the liturgy proposes the beginning of Jesus' public life with his preaching. The coincidence with the week of prayer for Christian unity makes Pope Francis underline the primacy of the Word of God in Christian life. Jesus begins his preaching with the same words as the Baptist, who had been arrested, and which were linked to the long prophetic tradition: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near". Conversion begins when the Word of God reaches the heart and changes it. And it pushes those who welcomed it to start a new life. From that day, in the "Galilee of the Gentiles" until today, the Word of God has continued to communicate the good news of the kingdom and to gather around itself men and women of all ages and cultures. And he made everyone a new people. On that distant day on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John, welcomed the invitation. And the Word of God - we could say - immediately bore its first fruits: they - writes the evangelist - "immediately left their nets, their boat, their father and followed him". There is a need for the Word of God to travel the paths of the hearts of the men and women of our time. In this difficult time, many are waiting for a word of hope and consolation. Like those four fishermen, we too immediately leave our little nets, our little thoughts, and let ourselves be involved in the ever-big dream of Jesus who takes us out to sea to throw our nets into the vast sea of the world.