After the many years he spent in Nazareth with his family and after spending forty days in the desert and being baptized by John, Jesus had clear ideas about his mission. His life would be dedicated to proclaiming the good news of salvation. The message he communicated was concise and concrete: “The time has come, the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel”.
The first objective of the proclamation of the Good News is that of forming a community. As he begins his ministry, Jesus is aware that his mission is not one to be done alone. The first recruits abandon everything and follow Jesus. This is a strange beginning for an enterprise that would conquer the world. Did they know him already? We know very little of the background of any of the disciples whom Jesus calls. But these were all ordinary people, like you and me. They were called.
Jesus said, “Come with me and I will make you fishers of men.” What does it mean to be fishermen of men? The sea water, is the right place for fish life, not for people. People must be taken out so that they can live. The sea in Semitic culture indicates the place of the forces of evil, the seat of demons. People must be brought out of these conditions.
And this must be done immediately. There is no time to lose. He who loves his brother must draw him out of these waters that prevent him from living
They left their nets and followed him: nets that we must leave behind are everything that prevents us from immediately following Christ. Our laziness, comforts, habits, traditions, envy, jealousy, attachment to money – these could be the nets that still tie us down from following Jesus.
Jesus calls us in the conditions in which we are; he makes us live our life in a radically different way because it will be a life guided, no longer by withdrawal into oneself, selfish benefit, but for attention, love and service to one another.
He invites us to change our lives, to convert. It is no longer time for excuses. God is here and he calls us. Today we are the ones who hear this Word. Jesus passes by us and invites us to be converted: he calls us by name, so that we may follow him, so that we may be his disciples, so that we may participate in the mission. The moment is urgent, as Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians. Are we going to miss this opportunity too?
For your reflection
Are my words and actions a source of division and violence among the brothers and sisters? Or do I contribute with my way of living and relating to those around me to bring together the children of God? What can I do to fulfill the mission that Jesus has entrusted to me?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
