"I will make you fishers of men"
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
The gospel reading of Jesus
“collecting” his disciples has always been a compelling story for me. Fishermen, like farmers, live from
harvest to harvest; perhaps, fishermen even more so since you can’t really
store fish for any length of time. So
all the more surprising, they felt compelled to leave their nets, their boats,
their way of life, and follow an itinerant rabbi, Jesus. It has shades of Star Trek’s Borg
assimilation, “Resistance is futile.”
In our Old
Testament reading, Jonah really wants nothing to do with carrying out what
looks to be a one-way mission. Assyrians
were not only non-Jews, they decorated their palace walls with images of
impaled Jews. It’s no
wonder Jonah walked the other way. Ironically,
after being detoured from his call by being swallowed by a “big fish”, he
delivers his message to the King and, amazingly, it works. The people of Nineveh repent and God
spares them. Jonah, the
reluctant prophet, succeeds; most other prophets of the Bible don’t. That’s why the stories of the prophets
are mostly cautionary tales to the hard-hearted with a message to repent. As amazing a story as this is, though,
it is less about Jonah and more about God’s great mercy and compassion for
anyone who repents, who “turns around” and set out in a new direction. The people of Nineveh, having turned
around, found God’s mercy. Jonah
was indignant. As a Jew to
brash Jew-hating Assyrians, he was hoping for God’s slaughtering of these folks. He complains bitterly to God that after
all this work, the people were spared. Jonah
also made a turn in this narrative; or, rather, he was turned. God turned Jonah around. He, in turn, helped turn Nineveh.
“Follow me and
I will make you fishers of men” were Jesus’
words to James, John, Simon and Andrew, who left their nets, made a 180, and
began their life-changing journey with Jesus. Simon and Andrew “abandoned” their
nets; James and John left their father alone--- even taking the men they hired. I’ve always wondered what kept Zebedee
in the boat. I suppose not
insisting that his son stay, Zebedee also had given something up: his two sons.
Repenting is both a turning away and a turning toward
something (or, in this case, someone).
The Ninevites
turned away from their disrespect of God, and moved into a new life. Jesus’ fishermen didn’t turn away from
sin, but turned toward a greater life in allowing themselves to follow their
hearts. You don’t have to
be living in sin to repent, you can turn away from something that is of lesser
value. Turning towards
something better may not be as spectacular as abandoning mortal sin for virtue,
but more often than not, most people who follow Christ are not grand sinners
living depraved lives.
One great act
of repentance might be to turn away from the extraordinary for the ordinary. It may be repenting from the praise of
friends and social accolades and turning towards those whose lives are so full
of pain that a “thank you” for your act of love isn’t forthcoming even on a
good day. Perhaps your call
is to turn away from a social life that takes you from your family and towards a
life with more family time. For
those who live alone, perhaps there is a call to abandon the security of living
a predicable life, where you are the CEO of everything, and embrace people who you’re
your presence in a messy, out-of-control life. Whatever our call, one thing is for
certain, we are called to walk with Jesus. It is a journey of healing, of
terrifying times well out of sight of land, heartbreaking separations and
joyful reunions, but ultimately the one that conforms most closely to our
truest nature as being formed in the image of God.
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