Happy Friday, Everybody. Let us begin this Little Triduum looking at the upcoming Gospel reading in the Light of the Grave:
This Sunday's Gospel is Matthew 4:12-23 (from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper’na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb’ulun and Naph’tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
Toward the sea, across the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
The people who sat in darkness
Have seen a great light,
And for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb’edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
I worked on a commercial fishing boat in the 90’s and my least favorite part of that job was mending the net. Once, a humpback whale swam through it and we had to spend about 48 hours straight reweaving the sections that had been left in tatters. This was not my forte, even if I was well rested. I had to be careful not to wear a hoodie with draw strings or I would as likely as not have sewn myself into the webbing. So, if I were either James or John, my relationship with my father Zebedee notwithstanding, I feel confident that I, too, would have immediately left the boat and followed Him.
In fact, I pretty much did.
When we were docked in Juneau not long thereafter, I went to the cathedral and pulled the priest aside and said I was having a tough time with the fishing schedule because it made it challenging to attend Mass. I told him specifically that I was hungering for the Eucharist. He said, “become a priest, you can have the Eucharist any time you want.”
While I did not become a priest, I did begin to prioritize following our Eucharistic Lord.
The call to mend our lives, to repent, that we hear when we attempt to live in close proximity to Jesus, is a recognition that the kingdom of heaven at hand. We know this and still the world tries to distract or drown out the one, true, Voice with never-ending prompting to go on tearing and repairing our earthly nets, nets we foolishly fashion for foods that can never satisfy our Eternal Hunger.
What does satisfy us? Communion. Not only in the Bread of Angels, but also in each other. We were created to know and be known, free from the stain of sin, together in Heaven forever. Sadly, most people around us are tangled up in a selfish sea of confusion, not knowing or believing how much God loves them nor the joy for which they were created.
It is life’s great adventure to catch them, through sacrificial love, and set them free.
Let’s get fishing!