Most
of us adults have had the experience at one time or another, in fact probably
many times over, of looking for a job.
In my case the Company I work for is going through a merger so my job
will most likely be eliminated sometime this spring, so I’ve been busily
updating my resume, checking job listings, networking and making phone calls
and applying for jobs. If you’ve gone
through that, too, and you probably have, you know how difficult and even
discouraging the whole process can be – how selective or even picky employers are,
and how many folks seem to be competing for the same job.
And
I’ve been on the other side of the desk, too, trying to hire a worker for a new
position – to find just the right person, with just the right education and
experience, who I think will do an outstanding job.
All
of this was in the back of my mind as I read today’s Gospel, the story of Jesus
selecting, hiring if you will, His first followers, His first disciples. And He seems almost casual about it – Here He
is, walking along the Sea of Galilee and comes upon two fishermen, Andrew and
Peter. Calls out to them – “Come after
me, I will make you fishers of men!” No
resume. No interview. No background search. Come after me, I will make you fishers of
men.
Same
thing a bit further down the seashore – calls to James and John, mending the
nets with their father. Calls to them,
too.
And
amazingly, each dropped what they were doing and followed after Him!
This
is how Our Lord went about selecting His first disciples – and think about it -
it’s not like this was just any job he was hiring for – no. He was selecting His first helpers for the most important job. Ever.
The most important mission! We
just finished the Christmas holy-days, in which we celebrated that the Lord
came to earth as a tiny baby with the most important mission of all time – the
salvation of the world, of the entire human race.
And
now Our Lord, beginning His own mission, preparing for this battle if you will,
is selecting His first soldiers. And how
does He do it? You two over there – come
after me. You two – drop your nets and
leave old dad and come with me. Pretty
astounding, huh? Four ordinary dudes,
minding their own business, next thing you know they’re pressed into service in
the most important job in history! So
the first lesson of this Gospel, it seems to me, is that He isn’t requiring
great resumes or vast experience to follow Him.
All He asks is a humble “yes” to His call. You see, Our Lord doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. Because any good done by those He calls is
the fruit of Our Lord’s power working in them.
But
here’s something even more astounding – here we are 2,000 years later, and what
He started that day with four fishermen now has more than one billion fishermen
– fishers of men – around the globe, and that includes you and me and the
hundreds you see around you in this building, right here and how. You see, what Our Lord started that day when
He called four ordinary guys to join Him, what He started was the Church!
And
what is the Church, my sisters and brothers, if not the community of people He calls
out in this world to follow Him, to proclaim Him, to be the light in the
darkness? Like the people of Zebulun and
Naphtali, we too live in an often dark and depressing world, a world filled with too much
selfishness and greed, violence and poverty.
A world overshadowed with what Pope John Paul II called a culture of
death? So what are we, you and me, if
not the army He has raised and is raising to continue His mission of saving
that world? If not the people He has
called to be a light in that darkness?
Now
the weapons of Christ’s army are not guns and tanks, fighter jets and
drones. No! Our weapons are love and
compassion, self-giving service, prayer and the Sacraments. And above all with the holiness and power of
Him who dwells within us. We fight not
with angry words and fists but with our lives as peaceful witness against the
allures of this world. And with humble
repentance of our sin, striving for holiness.
For the first battlefield of this epic struggle is right here – in our
own hearts – as we repent and turn away from sin, turn toward Our Lord and
allow Him to reform our lives. We can’t
begin to evangelize the world until we allow Him to change our hearts!
My
brothers and sisters, first at our baptism and every day of our lives, Christ
continues to call out to you and me – “come after me, I will make you fishers
of men.” Not based on our
qualifications, or resume or an interview but each in our own way, each with
our own gifts, and each of us with the power of His Spirit within us, He
continues to call workers to join His mission.
Not each of us is called to drop everything, leave our nets or our families
and follow after Him, although some most assuredly are! But He continues to call each of us to follow
after Him unreservedly, wherever we are in life, and join Him in this mission to
share His good news of salvation.
All
He asks of you and me is our humble “yes!”
* * * * * * * *
This
weekend we celebrate a very special place for training up disciples for the
Lord in this most important mission, and that place is our own St. Kateri
School (this morning we have with us quite a few of our school students and
their families). We recognize the
wonderful work being done with our children by our school teachers,
administrators and parents, as well as the sacrifice and commitment of each of
our school families to provide these children with an education steeped in our
Faith, in which Our Lord Jesus is the center.
Let us pray for our school and all Catholic Schools. May God richly bless our students and all who
devote their time, talents and treasure to this important part of the mission
of Christ’s Church.
