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
Last week we saw St. John’s account of the call of the disciples and what is required of those who are called to be disciples of Jesus. Those who are called have the responsibility of bringing others to Christ. This week St. Mark gives us his account of the call and the requirements necessary to be a disciple of Jesus.
The first part of the passage of the Gospel begins with the exhortation “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The Aramaic word for “repent” literally means to turn around 180 degrees. In the context in which it is used, it means to reorient one’s whole attitude to life in the face of the coming kingdom. But this change of attitude demands a belief in the Gospel, i.e. the account of Jesus’ life death and resurrection, which belief will influence all of our behaviour.
You may be confused, shocked or consumed by cheapest cialis india the humiliation you had to face. continue reading over here buy cialis This world class medicine has brought an efficient way to improve one’s condition. You can include bananas, cheap levitra generic pumpkin seeds, eggs, sesame seeds, oysters, almonds, broccoli, and fish in your daily diet. At best they can help to get and canada pharmacy tadalafil maintain erection for longer duration. The second part of this passage tells us about the reaction of the first disciples to the call of Jesus. They abandon their nets and followed HIM. The nets and boats of the disciples were the instruments of their livelihood. Without these instruments, they had no way of maintaining themselves yet they left it all in order to attach themselves to the person of Jesus.
It is in this attitude then that we find the meaning of discipleship everything, even things as important to us as the means of our livelihood pale in comparison to our attachment to the person and message of Jesus. We know from other Gospel passages that the disciples continued to use their boats and nets from time to time but the meaning of the passage is very clear. St Mark is describing for us what “Repent means”. It is to turn 180 degrees in our attitudes so that our attachment to and our following of Jesus becomes the all-consuming element of our lives, more important even than the means of gaining our livelihood and therefore more important than our comforts, more important than the things which bring us fame and fortune, more important even than our lives. This is in fact the meaning of the lives of the martyrs and saints, those of yesterday and those of our age. In the words of St. Paul, they counted everything as nothing compared to the knowing and experience of the Lord Jesus. We thank God then for the witness of St. Francis, who put all his earthly possessions at the feet of his merchant father in order to follow Jesus more closely in his poverty. We thank God for the witness of Msgr. Romero who accepted death rather than give up the struggle for Justice, so that the Christ who lives in each one of us especially the poor would be recognized and respected and loved. It is the witness of all the martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries.
As we recognize these heroes of our faith, we must also let the Gospel challenge us. Have we made that 180 degree turn in our attitudes, so that our attachment to and our following of Jesus becomes the all-consuming element of our lives, more important even that the means of gaining our livelihood and therefore more important than our comforts, more important than the things which bring us fame and fortune, more important even than our lives?
I am sure that all of us have begun the turn. We may have achieved 30 degrees or 60 degrees or 90 degrees. We thank God for that but we must pray that we do not stall at that point and that we have the grace to complete the 180 degree turn.
Prayer
All powerful and ever loving God, we thank you for life and love and friendship and we thank you especially for the lives of your martyrs who teach us that it is possible to make the attachment to the person of your son Jesus and the following of his message the most important things of our lives. Help us to repent of our attitudes in the past and help us to make the 180 degree turn in our attitudes and attachments that repentance means so that our lives may hasten the coming of your Kingdom. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and your son Jesus. Amen
