A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 4:18-22)
Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.
In relating the call of the first disciples, Matthew tells us that Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and sees Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea. Later, he sees James and his brother John in a boat, mending their nets. Jesus calls them from a specific place and time in their lives to follow him. The symbols of the net and the boat stand in for any occupation, any point in our lives. At any point in life, there is casting for sustenance and mending what is broken. In Jesus’ eyes, every one of us is literally in the same boat. Among brothers, Saint Andrew hears the call of discipleship and follows to be a fisher of men, to cast far and wide the word of God. Right here and right now, Jesus also calls us to follow him and do the same.
God, help me understand the mercy Jesus your Son shows that is particular to each person. Just as he goes along the shore to meet Andrew, Simon, James, and John, he meets me at every juncture where I have the gift of freely choosing to follow him. In the midst of the day, there is the almost constant need to cast and mend, to work in this life and to put back together what is broken continually through walking away from you in the opposite direction. Lord, help me hear the call to follow you and to return again and again to the sacraments of the Church to receive wholeness through your grace. Meet me today where I am.
From the Gospel acclamation: “Come after me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.” Saint Andrew, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.