25 Aug 2012
The call of the disciples doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. Jesus, after spending time in the desert reflecting on who he was and what his Father was calling him to do, invites an unusual group of people to follow him. These are the men who are going to help him proclaim good news, to bring healing to the broken and to reveal the presence of a loving God to all. In these days of human resource management and professional recruitment there are criteria that must be fulfilled, references to be checked and qualifications to be earned. To this end one could have asssumed that Jesus would have chosen from among the powerful, the learned and the influential. But our God is a God of surprises and He rarely acts in ways we aniticipate.
So it was with the apostles. In Luke 5 Jesus invites Simon Peter and his companions to put out into deep water, to respond to an invitation that seems pointless. The resulting catch is astonishing and it opens Simon Peter’s eyes to the fact that something extraordinary is happening. Once again Jesus invites Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, but this time to do something far more profound. Their true vocation is to become fishers of men and women. Jesus wasn’t interested in the external trappings that people valued, as much today as back in his time. What Christ was looking for were people with a heart that was open to God’s call, not when they were ready, but when he needed them.
I’ve only been involved with vocation promotion for less than a year, but it’s been a powerful experience. It’s about journeying with people and listening to their story and how God continues to love, challenge and call them. For some they are thinking of becoming a priest, while others are interested in consecrated religious life. Very often though there is a sense that people feel that they don’t have enough faith; they are not holy enough; or maybe that they are not ready. But if we are going to wait until we ourselves are ready, well that day will most likely never come. Sometimes we need to take the risk, we need to leave our nets behind and we need to follow God’s call. If you look at the life of Peter and how he shaped his world and built up the people of God, it all began with that simple invitation to “Come and follow me.” That’s your invitation too. What’s your answer?