Gospel Mk 1:14-20
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
Homily
During my missionary stint in Latin America, I was during a certain period charged with the ministry of the formation of young religious for our congregation in Paraguay. During this time I was asked to interview a young man from another country who was inquiring about the possibility of him becoming a member of the congregation. This young man was already a lawyer so I asked him how he thought that he could synchronize his legal practice with religious life. His reply was that he saw no difference between the two. As far as he was concerned his legal practice, especially in favour of the poor was in fact a way of furthering the work of the kingdom. I remembered this incident as I reflected on the Gospel given to us for our meditation this weekend because this gospel passage also speaks to us about using our talents for the work of the Kingdom.
The Gospel passage contains St. Mark’s description of the call of the disciples. The first four disciples called, according to St. Mark, are all active fishermen exercising their trade. Jesus calls them inviting them to become “fishers of men”. What is interesting about this is that the actual work for which they were being called was the work of building the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Justice, peace and love. Jesus calls them however to be “fishers of men”, as if saying to them ; Use the gifts and talents, the competencies which you have to bring persons into this Kingdom which God wants to establish. This is what the disciples did in fact do. They threw their nets far and wide, they did not only go to the Jews, they also went to the gentiles and brought all to the Kingdom shores in the same way that as fishermen they threw their nets far and wide and brought all kinds of fish to shore. The lesson for us is that God calls us as we are, with our particular gifts and competencies, to the work of building the Kingdom wherever we may find ourselves. If our gift is teaching, then that gift is to be used for the task of building the Kingdom. We are called to be “teachers of men”! If our gift is in health care, be this as medical doctors or nurses, we are called to be “healers of men” and in doing this build the Kingdom. If we are people with green thumbs, then we are called to create a beautiful garden for the Lord and nourish his people.
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The important thing for all of us is that our gifts and talents, whatever these may be, must be used to further the expansion of God’s Kingdom here in our land, or wherever we find ourselves. This is in fact how the saints operated, their competencies were all put at the service of the Kingdom and so church history shows that religious congregations grew up around certain competencies, like education and health care, work with youth, social work, missionary work, preaching etc. Because of this our world is a far better place and the journey towards the New Jerusalem, that place and time when “God’s dwelling will once again be amongst men and where there will be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain for the former world would have passed away”, has been furthered.
You and I, we are called through baptism and confirmation to further that journey to the New Jerusalem; like all the saints of both former times and of the present, we will accomplish that mission in the measure that we put our gifts, talents and competencies at the service of the Kingdom.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, we thank you for the gifts, talents and competencies which through your good ness we have received in our lives. They are signs to us of the great love which you have for us. Give us the grace, we pray, to put these gifts talents and competencies at the service of your kingdom, so that we hasten the arrival of the New Jerusalem where there is “no more death or mourning, crying out or pain for the former world would have passed away”
We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and Jesus, your Son. Amen
