We are each called to be disciple

Matthew 4: 12–23

Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned. From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’

As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people.

[Zebulun and Naphtali were the territories of the northernmost tribes of Israel, which the Assyrians invaded and destroyed in 721BCE, effectively wiping out the Northern Kingdom of Israel.]

Music Meditations

The Summons—John Bell
In Christ Alone—strongbow27
Be Thou My Vision—Nathan Pacheco
Jesus—Chris Tomlin

Opening Prayer

Jesus, you are calling me to change some aspects of my life that need changing, here and now. Please help me to see where I am in need of change, where I am in need of help, and where I need healing. Give me the openness to the needs of others, ignoring where THEY need to Change—and the openness to acknowledge that their changes are theirs to make. Help me to understand that my mission is to bring the good news of your love to others. This is my call. Give me the determination to follow through on answering that call.

Companions for the Journey

From Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Professor of New Testament at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, writing in America magazine, a Jesuit publication:

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light”(Mt 4:16)

Why did Peter and Andrew, James and John follow Jesus? According to Matthew’s narrative (and Mark’s), these four fishermen had no prior knowledge of Jesus. While they were at work in Capernaum one day, Jesus came along and said, “Follow me,” and they did. Answering Jesus’ call meant leaving behind their families and businesses for very uncertain futures. Why did they do it?

One answer appeals to the literary skill of the Evangelists or their sources. The utter simplicity of the narrative—Jesus calls, and the disciples follow—serves to highlight Jesus’ personal attractiveness and persuasiveness. It leads the reader to imagine how wonderful Jesus must have been to inspire such an immediate and total response on the disciples’ part. While there is much to be said for this interpretation, there may be more to the disciples’ action than that.

Today’s reading from Matthew 4 places Jesus’ call of his first disciples in a wider context. It suggests that the first disciples followed Jesus out of hope. Their hope was rooted in the past, looked forward to the future and was based in the present.

Matthew prefaces the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry with a quotation from Isaiah: “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.” This prophecy was first uttered some 700 years before the time of Jesus. It expressed the hope of a people threatened by powerful political neighbors, looking for some kind of salvation. Isaiah’s prophecy also expressed well the political situation of Israel in Jesus’ time—caught between capitulation to the Romans (and their local supporters) and the promises of greatness made to God’s people. How could these be reconciled? To Jesus’ contemporaries like the four fishermen and to early Christians like Matthew, Jesus seemed to be a light shining in the darkness. They saw Isaiah’s hope being fulfilled before their eyes, a hope rooted in Israel’s past.

Before recounting the call of the first disciples, Matthew provides a summary of Jesus’ preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven refers to the future fullness of God’s rule and its acknowledgment by all creation. It is what we pray for when we say, “Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This was the central theme of Jesus’ preaching and activity. The first disciples looked forward to experiencing and being part of that glorious future kingdom.

Matthew follows the call of the first disciples with a summary of Jesus’ activities: teaching, preaching and healing. In the Gospels these are the ways in which Jesus manifests the presence of God’s kingdom among us. Jesus showed the first disciples how to live in their present with the hope of experiencing the future fullness of God’s kingdom. Their hope was based on the person of Jesus as their light shining in the darkness, their light of hope.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Is there anybody in our time or in the history of the world whose charismatic qualities caused people immediately and unquestioningly follow him or her?
Is this good or bad?
Do I consider myself invited to work with Jesus?
Is my response immediate, or do I lollygag and offer excuses for my slow response, or do I not really respond at all?
Who, in our time, who are fishers of men?
What makes Church ministry successful, effective, rewarding?
What makes it difficult, disappointing, or stressful?
Have I ever been invited to join someone in an enterprise which was not very well sketched out? How did I respond?
Do we need a lot of details/reassurances, back-up plans, safety nets, etc., before we commit to an enterprise?
Was it different for Peter and Andrew?
What part does hope play in the decisions of the first four disciples?
What part does hope play in my decisions?
Does it help to have companions when you are completing a mission or task?
What of God’s “good news” do you bring to others?
What darkness do I perceive in this world?
In what ways has Jesus been a light in the world’s darkness?
In my personal darkness?
Do I bring the light and love of Christ to my little corner of the world?
Do I see myself as called to bring light to the darkness?
What are my gifts (teaching, hospitality, wisdom, knowledge, empathy, healing, kindness, helping, sharing, for example)?
Do I employ them very often?
Do I consider that a form of preaching the “good news”?
Why or why not?
What are some cop-outs we employ to avoid taking a risk on Jesus and the kingdom: “not good enough, not smart enough, not brave enough, not charismatic enough, just an ordinary person with no gifts, no talent for this kind of work?”
Do you employ any?
What are some obstacles in my life which keep me from following Jesus?
What does it mean: The Kingdom of God is at hand?
The command to “repent” means to change your mind, to change your attitude, to change your life, because the kingdom of God is at hand. What do you need to change in your life to be more a part of The Kingdom?
Describe a time when you were called to change something in your life?
What was the impetus?
How did you respond?
Was it difficult?
Do you follow Jesus?
Why?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Each of us, through our baptism, is called to announce Jesus’ presence in the world. At our baptism we were called “prophets.” What does that mean for you? Have there been experiences in your life through which the Spirit was speaking to you? Did you listen? How do you expect to hear the Lord’s voice? It is a question worth asking at this Eucharist, “How and where am I called to announce ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand?’” We may not do it from pulpits or at public gatherings, but in one way or another, each of us must bring light to people who “sit in gloom” and are “overshadowed by death.” We are to be signs of reassurance to people who may feel forgotten. As that person in the scripture group put it, through us, people will know that God has seen their need and come to help them.

The disciples heard the call and immediately left things behind. What must we leave as we respond to Jesus’ invitation to announce the presence of God’s kingdom?—old ways of thinking? Possessions? Plans? Familiar surroundings? Security? Even if we never pack up and take to the road, as the first disciples did, we still must make changes, if we have heard and accepted Jesus’ call. Once again, we need to ask Christ to show us what changes we must make so that, like the first disciples, we can follow him and be his instruments of proclamation. Yes, we already are his followers, nevertheless, we need to hear afresh and respond again to his call. Speak Lord, your servant is listening.

So, how shall we preach “the kingdom of heaven is near” this week? As co-workers and students we could be less competitive and more cooperative; as friends or family members we could be more willing to listen to what others are saying; we could respond to people’s request for help; we could treat all people, regardless of race, gender, economic status and education with acceptance and dignity. The bottom line, in light of today’s scriptures might be: In a world where there is gloom, how can I, with Jesus’ help, be “a light to the nations?”

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Inspired by Walter Burghardt, S.J.:

Wouldn’t you have loved to be the fly on the wall when Peter went home and told his wife that he was going to stop fishing for fish and going to start fishing for people? “YOU’RE GOING TO WHAT?????” Imagine that you are the wife of Peter, who depends on his earnings as a fisherman to keep the household going financially. Are you afraid? Angry? Sad? Try also to imagine what was going through the minds and hearts of each of these four disciples as they considered the invitation from Jesus. Then put yourself in the actual event as each one told his loved ones that he was leaving—or did not do so. As romantic as this gospel story seems, it can’t have been easy for the disciples and their loved ones to give up their old way of life embrace this new enterprise. The fact that they did so is an indication of their openness to God’s call and their willingness to change.

They had the generosity of spirit to enter into this enterprise with all their hearts, with all their energy, with all their love. Christian living is not a part time job—there is no cutting corners in this enterprise. It is not enough merely to stay out of mortal sin, to keep our noses clean. If we are content with the minimum then we are part-time Christians. A full-time Christian listens to the promptings of the Spirit who speaks within our hearts, within the events of our personal histories, inviting us to make our little world a little bit better here and now—our families, our dorms and classes, our workplace. These promptings of the spirit inspire you and me to ask what God wants for our lives. Am I afraid of what the answer might be? What am I willing to give up to answer God’s call?

Poetic Reflection:

I ask myself the following, then read the following poem written by an unknown woman religious:
What was I called to yesterday? Did I respond?
What am I being called to today? Do I hear?

In the beginning was the Word. A Word who must be spoken. A Word spoken into skies. and called into hills. Spoken into rivers and fields A Word Spoken into life in flowers in birds and in every kind of animal. A Word spoken with love and breathed into the heart of man and woman that they might be ready to hear. And when the time came that all was in readiness, The Word was spoken into flesh, spoken to call his own out of the darkness and into the light. To those who would know this Word, he beckoned and still is beckoning—now—to you. Come, see where I live; spend your time with me Be my own, Be disciple. Is the question of the first who followed your question still: Teacher, where do you live in my world? The answer they heard is the same, which, in silence you will know: Come, I will take you there. I live within your heart. Your heart that I have seen, Your heart that I have known I live there, calling you beyond yourself Calling you into my own life, Calling you to the vision of my Father Calling you to be fishers of people. Calling you to be disciple.

Closing Prayer

Please help me to open myself to the light of your love and your goodness. Help me, Lord to see the dark little corners of another’s life where I might bring some light and hope. Help me to be non-judgmental, not to offer unwarranted advice or slick solutions to some very complex issues that people are facing. Help me to be kind, understanding and PRESENT to the needs of this world and those around me.

Weekly Reflections

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 22, 2023