Day 56: Good News (2026)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Episode: Day 56: Good News (2026)
Date: February 25, 2026
Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR
Podcast: Ascension’s Rosary in a Year

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Overview:

In Day 56 of “The Rosary in a Year,” Fr. Mark-Mary Ames guides listeners into a meditation on the Third Luminous Mystery: the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion. This episode centers on how Jesus, through word and deed, reveals himself as the present reality of the Kingdom of God and invites us to authentic conversion. Fr. Mark-Mary draws on scripture and the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II, encouraging listeners to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of their hopes and to invite genuine repentance into their lives.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights:

1. Foundation of the Third Luminous Mystery

• Scripture Basis: Mark 1:14-15, where Jesus proclaims, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”
  [01:03]
• First Foundational Truth: The mystery is a “revelation of the kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus,” echoing Pope St. John Paul II.
  • Quote:

    “The kingdom of God that is being proclaimed is Jesus. So when Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is at hand, he’s talking about himself.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 01:53)

• Second Foundational Truth: The proclamation is by word and deed—Jesus doesn’t just announce, he acts, making something new happen.

2. The Kingdom Manifested Through Actions

• All that Jesus says and does in his public ministry can be seen as the proclamation of the kingdom.
  [02:38]
• Examples from Gospel of Mark:
  • Calling Disciples: First thing after proclamation is calling Simon, Andrew, James, John—“Come to me.” [03:03]
  • Exercising Authority: Casting out demons.
  • Showing Compassion: Healing Simon’s mother-in-law, a leper, and a paralytic.
  • Calling Sinners: Calling Levi, offering new life and hope.
  • Self-Revelation: Refers to himself as the bridegroom and “Lord of the Sabbath.” [03:50]
• Quote:

  “All of this is the proclamation of the kingdom of God. All of this is Jesus manifesting who he is by word and by deed.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 03:52)

3. Who is Jesus in the Kingdom?

• Jesus repeatedly declares by action and word: “I am the one you are looking for. I am the bridegroom. I am the authority. I am the king. I have authority over sickness. I have authority over sin. I’ve come to call sinners back to repentance.”
  [04:02–04:12]

4. The Good News—A Personal Invitation

• Jesus comes to reveal the fullness of truth—about God, about ourselves, about right worship, and our call to share divine life.
• The intimate and tender love of Jesus for the marginalized is highlighted.
  • Quote:

    “See how tenderly he looks on the lowly, on the outcast and the sinner. Like this is the good news. That which we are looking for, we have found, and we have found it in Jesus.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 05:05–05:07)

• The episode is permeated by the urging to believe and trust in this Good News.

5. Examination and Call to Repentance

• Reflection Prompt: Listeners are encouraged to examine where, in their lives, they have given authority or placed hope in things other than Jesus.
  • Quote:

    “Where are the places in which I am giving authority to that which is not Jesus, that I’m placing my hopes in something other than Jesus?” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 05:25)

  • The call is to turn away from lesser things and come back to Christ.
• Summary Statement:

  “The kingdom of God is at hand. That which your heart is seeking for and longing for is at hand. He is here. He is the Lord. He is Jesus.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 05:35)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments:

• On the Luminous Mysteries:

  “He reminds us each of these mysteries is a revelation of the kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.”
  (Fr. Mark-Mary, 01:49)

• On Jesus’ Identity:

  “I am the one that you are looking for. I am the bridegroom. I am the authority. I am the king.”
  (Fr. Mark-Mary, 04:02)

• On Repentance and Trust:

  “Let us believe in this good news, my brothers and sisters, and let us again, let us repent.”
  (Fr. Mark-Mary, 05:13)

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Prayer and Meditative Practice

[05:39–07:28]

• Fr. Mark-Mary leads listeners in the “Our Father,” three “Hail Marys,” and a “Glory Be”—anchoring the meditation in prayerful practice.

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Introduction and Context: [00:04–01:03]
• Scripture Reading (Mark 1:14-15): [01:03–01:12]
• Explanation of Foundational Truths: [01:12–01:53]
• Breakdown of Jesus’ Actions in Mark’s Gospel: [03:02–03:50]
• Summary of the Good News: [04:49–05:14]
• Examination for Listeners: [05:20–05:39]
• Rosary Prayers: [05:39–07:28]

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Tone and Style

The episode maintains a warm, inviting, and deeply pastoral tone. Fr. Mark-Mary’s reflections are personal, scripturally rich, and filled with gentle urgings toward deeper faith, trust, and conversion. He constantly returns to the language of invitation and comfort, emphasizing Jesus’ love and authority.

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Final Summary

Day 56 invites listeners to recognize Jesus as the “Good News” and the living reality of God’s kingdom, made present here and now. Through scriptural reflection and prayer, Fr. Mark-Mary encourages us to examine where we place our trust and to respond with repentance, confident in the tender love and authority of Christ. If you’re seeking to deepen your prayer life and relationship with Jesus through the Rosary, this episode serves as both inspiration and practical guide.

Transcript

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Foreign.

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Mark May with Franciscan Friars the Renewal and this is the Rosary in Here podcast where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source

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of grace for the whole world.

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The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 56. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.comrosaryne year or text R I Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcast is in the Ascension app. There's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary Near Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, same reflections and beautiful full page images of the sacred art will be

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reflecting on

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the third luminous mystery is the proclamation of the Kingdom and the call to conversion.

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Mark 1:14:15 now after John was arrested,

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Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. I'd like our meditation on this third luminous mystery to be built upon two foundational truths. The first is this. And this is going back to what Pope Saint John Paul II said in his Apostolic Letter on the Rosary where he's introducing the luminous mysteries. He reminds us each of these mysteries is a revelation of the kingdom now

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present in the very person of Jesus. Right?

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The kingdom of God that is being proclaimed is Jesus. So when Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is at hand, he's talking about himself. And the second is this, that the proclamation of the kingdom of God is done by both word and deed. It's not just done by saying here it is something new is happening. He actually makes something new happen. And this isn't perfect, but I do think that in our praying of the third luminous mystery, most of what Jesus says and does actually can fall under the proclamation of the kingdom. For example, his parables. Many of the parables are introduced as the kingdom of heaven is like this is a proclamation, the teaching of what

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the kingdom is also a breaking through of the kingdom, his teaching, his giving

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of the law, establishing, manifesting, his authority, giving a new law, his miracles. And I think actually the Gospel of Mark is beautiful and a perfect place to understand this as we look at what immediately follows. Right this initial proclamation, the time is fulfilled and kingdom of God is at hand.

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Repent.

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Believe in the gospel. What's the first thing that happened? The first thing that he does is that he calls his first disciples. He calls Simon and Andrew and James and John. So the first thing he does, and this is the end of the proclamation, is he says, come to me. And then look what happens. The next thing that happens is Jesus casts out demons.

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He manifests his authority.

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The next thing that happens is that he heals Simon's mother in law. That is followed by this statement of, like everyone's looking for you, Jesus. He heals a leper, he heals a paralytic. Then he calls Levi, he calls a

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sinner, gives the sinner a new way of living, a new life, a new hope.

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And then immediately after that, he establishes, in responding to the question about fasting, he identifies as the bridegroom. And then he refers to himself, saying,

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the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

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Like all of this is the proclamation of the kingdom of God. All of this is Jesus manifesting who he is by word and by deed. I am the one that you are looking for.

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I am the bridegroom. I am the authority. I am the king. I have authority over sickness. I have authority over sin.

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I've come to call sinners back to repent.

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Repentance. Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom of God.

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And in his proclamation of the kingdom,

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he says, and I am this kingdom. Repent and believe in the good news.

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Jesus has come to reveal the fullness

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of the truth of who we are, of who he is. He's come to give us true and right worship.

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He has come to bring us to Himself through baptism, ultimately bringing us to

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a sharing his own divine life and his inner relationship with His Father.

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So my brothers and sisters, like we look, we look at him and we look at all he's doing throughout the

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Gospels in his public life

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and the good news of it.

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That he is good, that he is Lord, that he is the authority, that he is the powerful One, that He loves us. See how tenderly he looks on the lowly, on the outcast and the sinner. Like this is the good news.

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That which we are looking for, we

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have found, and we have found it in Jesus.

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Let us believe in this good news,

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my brothers and sisters, and let us again, let us repent. Today, as we reflect on this mystery,

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let's just do a little bit of an examine particularly where are the places

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in which I am giving authority to that which is not Jesus, that I'M placing my hopes in something other than Jesus.

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Like what in my life am I

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not trusting to him? Let us repent. Let us turn away and come to him. My brothers and sisters, the kingdom of God is at hand. That which your heart is seeking for and longing for is at hand. He is here. He is the Lord. He is Jesus. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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All right, everybody, thanks for joining me and praying with me again today.

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I look forward to continuing the journey again with you tomorrow. Poco. Poco. Friends. All right, bye now.