As we step into the first week of Ordinary Time, the Gospel moves quickly. Jesus passes by the Sea of Galilee and issues a Call . He sees Si...
As we step into the first week of Ordinary Time, the Gospel moves quickly. Jesus passes by the Sea of Galilee and issues a Call. He sees Simon and Andrew casting their nets, and James and John mending theirs. He calls them in the middle of their mundane, daily work. This teaches us that the call to holiness doesn't just happen on retreats or in church sanctuaries. It happens on Monday mornings, in the office, in the classroom, or while doing household chores. Jesus is constantly passing by our daily lives, inviting us to follow Him.
However, every call involves a Cost. Mark vividly describes what happened: "They abandoned their nets and followed him." James and John "left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men." Discipleship is not free. To say "yes" to Jesus often means saying "no" to something else. It might be the cost of leaving behind a sinful habit, the cost of changing our priorities, or the cost of losing popularity because of our values. We cannot drag our old life and our new life in Christ together; we must drop the nets that entangle us.
But the result is a life-changing Commitment. They didn't just walk around for a day; they committed their entire lives to becoming "fishers of men." They shifted their focus from catching fish for profit to catching souls for the Kingdom. This commitment wasn't based on knowing all the answers—they didn't know where they were going—but it was based on trusting the One who called them. True commitment is trusting the Caller more than the destination.
Challenge: Identify one "net"—one distraction or attachment—that is preventing you from following Jesus more closely. Make a conscious effort to drop it today.
No comments