Gospel: Fishers of Men

Today marks the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Gospel will be read from St Mark (1:14-20).

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the gospel from God saying,

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel."

As he was walking along by the lake of Galilee he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net in the lake--for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, "Come after me and I will make you fishers of people." And at once they have left their nets and followed him.

Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending the nets.

At once he called them and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

In today's Gospel, according to St Mark's account, Jesus takes the initiative in calling his first disciples. It was more typical of the first-century rabbinical schools for students to seek out rabbis, asking to be their disciples. However, Jesus breaks with this tradition and invites his disciples to learn from him. Jesus is said to have first called four fishermen--Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Simon and Andrew are brothers. Jesus promises that he will make them "fishers of men." James and John are also brothers. St Mark does not report Jesus' words of invitation to them, but he does wrote that they left their fishing immediately; their father, Zebedee, was left behind in the boat.

St Mark's Gospel is told with a great sense of urgency and immediacy. Jesus is a person of action, and events occur in rapid succession. We see this in today's passage. Time is of the essence; the fishermen immediately put aside their livelihood to become Jesus' disciples. The Kingdom of God is here and now. The time of fulfillment is at hand. How might our lives be different if we were more fully shared this sense of the immediacy of God's kingdom?

How do we respond when God is calling us to serve his Kingdom and become fishers of men? Do we answer with urgency? Do we worry about our livelihood, or do we listen to the nagging voice that calls within? May our thirst in serving God envelope us to act with haste in whatever capacity we are capable of doing.

Amen.

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Picture from Pixabay.