To Cast and To Mend

As we now find ourselves in the Ordinary Time season following the Christmas and Epiphany solemnities, these Sundays speak to us in a different way than the Ordinary Time Sundays much later in the year.  These Sundays are in some ways an extension of the Solemnity of the Epiphany.  Although on that particular day we celebrate the Magi (Three Kings) who came and worshiped the Infant Messiah, in a much larger sense the Solemnity is all about manifesting to the world who Jesus really is for us as His followers. 

In this season we will begin to hear about the first miracles of our Lord, showing forth His power.  We will see Him counteracting the snares of the devil, and He also shows His command over all nature.  But one of the most important things that we will encounter is the call of Jesus to His disciples.

On the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time this year, in the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear of the call of Jesus to His first disciples near the Sea of Galilee.

“As [Jesus] was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.  He said to them, ‘Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’  At once they left their nets and followed Him.  He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.  They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Him. (Matthew 4:18-22)

As we consider this Scripture passage, we must reflect on the reality that Jesus is still among us today and if He is among us, then He is still calling His disciples.  The words used by Jesus are of great importance, “Come after Me.”  In other versions of Scripture it is also rendered as “Come follow Me,” or even “Fall in behind Me.”  No matter the translation, the words show us that in His call, Jesus is not asking us to follow a philosophy.  He does not want us to assent to a certain program that He wants all people to follow.  First and foremost, God desires that we follow a person, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is not a philosophy that will save us.  It is not a certain number of rules to follow or things to do.  We are saved because we know and follow Jesus.

Although not the best known translation of the call of Jesus, I am especially moved by the phrase “Fall in behind Me.”  In it I am reminded of the picture that is painted on the ceiling of St. Stanislaus Cathedral in Scranton, PA:  in the painting, Jesus is leading with Bishop Hodur and all of the people of the Church following Jesus.  I also consider it meaningful that the people in the painting are the actual people who worked along side Bishop Hodur in the formation of the parish and the Church.  These aren’t just some random people who are called to follow, but they are individuals, some of whom we can know by name.

This says that to me that somehow, in some way, I, as an individual, am also called to be a part of this great following, this great call of our Lord.  Jesus didn’t just call to His disciples in the pages of Scripture, He didn’t just call to the people in the time of Bishop Hodur, He is also calling right now.  Jesus is calling right now to you and I to follow Him.

Some may say that I’ve already taken up that call years ago when I went off to Savonarola Seminary.  I certainly heard the call of Jesus then and decided to give my life to the Lord in service as a priest.  Over the years though that call has continued and deepened.  I have heard it in my ongoing ministry as a priest within our Holy Church.  I have heard it in my married life together with Carol.  I have heard it in a call to serve the Church in larger ways as a bishop.  In fact, I hear it often as Jesus continues to call in many ways to deepen a life of prayer and devotion which continues to draw me closer to Him.  And through this deepened relationship with Christ, it becomes a call to more strongly serve our Lord and His people.

It is here that I come to the title of this article.  When Jesus was calling the disciples, all four brothers were involved in the daily actions of fishing.  Simon and Andrew were casting their nets into the sea, James and John were mending their nets so they could continue on later in their work.  Although this part of the Gospel reading is often overlooked, these actions are vitally important to the life of one who is called by Jesus.

We are called to cast a net as a fisherman would.  When fishing in this way, Simon and Andrew would cast their nets in the sea with hopes of a large catch.  Sometimes this would be true, but there were also many times when the catch would be small, or even the nets might come up empty.  The thing is that this would not stop them from casting again.  And again, and again.  This is the role of a fisherman, so they would just keep casting.

As we reflect on this, our call as disciples of Jesus reminds us that we need to keep doing the works of discipleship.  We need to persevere in good works, persevere in a life of service to others, persevere in worship and devotional acts.  There will be times when these actions produce great fruit, others will be brought to Christ, we will see great strides as others join in our religious lives of service.  When this happens, we will certainly have the encouragement to continue on.  But there will also be times when we are shunned for our good works in Christ, when we can’t find others to join in our reaching out to be of help, when we don’t worship God as often as we know we should.  Like Simon and Andrew, we know that we must persevere and continue to cast these actions of works, service and devotion out into the world.

The second aspect of the call is the work of James and John when Jesus called to them.  They were sitting in a boat mending their nets.  They were getting ready for the works that would come later.  They were mending up things that were broken so they could be strongly put to service in the future.  We can see this as the individual work that we must do within our own lives to be ready.  If we are to be strong in our service of God and His people, we must prepare ourselves through a life of daily prayer and healthy living.  We must nurture an ever-growing relationship with Jesus.  We must strive to know Him better in prayer, in the reading of Scripture, and especially in worship during the Holy Sacrifice of Mass where we will receive Him in Holy Communion.

The work of a disciple then is to cast and to mend.  We, as followers of Jesus, are called to be doing both of these things in our own daily lives of faith.  The call is still sounding throughout our lives.  Jesus still calls, “Come follow Me,” “Come after Me.”  When we answer, through our lives of service, prayer and devotion, we will continue to cast our good works out in the world, and to mend and to heal our own lives and the lives of others around us, so that, together, we may be totally dedicated to Jesus, our Savior and our Lord.