Today’s Gospel talks about the story of how Jesus called his first disciples. As the story goes, Jesus was walking along the shores of Lake Galilee. As He was walking He saw two fishermen, Simon and Andrew, casting their nets. Jesus told them, “Come, follow me.” The two abandoned their nets and followed Jesus.
As He went further, Jesus saw the brothers James and John mending their nets. Jut like the first, Jesus called them. They abandoned their boats, their nets and even their father, Zebedee, behind to follow Jesus.
As I reflect on today’s Gospel, I am moved to think about God’s calling in my own life. It is not easy and to be quite frank, I am not a hundred percent sure whether or not I have responded to that call, lest heard it. You see, in this world that I live in, there are a lot of noises, a lot of callings and it is not a surprise that many get easily confused as to which voice to follow. I must say that this calling is a central dilemma that every person is going through because it basically directs the purpose and meaning of one’s life. It is quite ironic that something of immense importance, such as finding out the meaning of one’s life, boils down to a very simple question and that is “What is God calling me to do?”
Before I dwell on the question though, let me first touch on some themes in the Gospel that I think are very important.
Who is God calling?
Many think that God’s call is exclusive for the faithful or for those who decide to live a religious life. I also thought the same. In fact, I asked myself, “Who am I to be called by God?”. A sinner like me does not, in any way, deserve to be called by God. I am, in fact, in no position to even consider that God is calling me since I do not really have anything worthy to be proud of-anything that I may have done to make Him proud of me and make me worthy to be called His child. If there is one thing in this world that I am certain it is that I am unworthy.
But Alas! If you look at the Gospel, it shows us what kind of people Jesus called. These are fishermen. They are not kings, emperors or even wise men. These are ordinary people who are doing ordinary things. These are ordinary people who like us have ordinary dreams, fears, problems and what have you. And of all the occupations, God chose fishermen. Now what can be more common than that?
It can not be truer when Jesus said “I came for the lost sheep.” God is calling everyone , especially sinners like us. It is not our completeness that God is interested in. In fact, it is our brokenness that makes us attractive. Whatever we lack, it is God who will fill it. Whatever we lost, it is God who will find it. Whatever we think we don’t have, God will find it. Such is the love of God and only through responding to His call will we be able to finally let this love overtake our being.
When will God call me?
Another important question that people ask is, when will God call me? Is it today? Is it tomorrow? Or did I already miss the call? The answer is simple. We have already been called the day that we were born into this world. The irony is that the call has always been there and because it is all to familiar to us, we never realized that its there. We expect something grand like trumpets and angels to appear before us just to realize that God is calling us. But no! That is not the case.
In the Gospel, we look at what the disciples were doing when Jesus called them. The first pair, Simon and Andrew were casting their nets while the other pair James and John were mending their nets. If you reflect on it, the disciples were doing something that is already part of their regimen as fishermen. When Jesus called them there was no army of angels. The skies did not open and no staircase ascending to heaven appeared. It was just Jesus right there telling them to follow Him. They were called while doing the things that they ordinarily do.
This is why I think it is so hard for us to hear the call of God. We expect that the call will come to us in a grand manner but that is not the case. God’s call comes to us in our everyday dealings and in the most common things we do. The hardest thing, I guess, is reflecting on the our everyday interaction to be able to find how God reveals himself to us. That is something that can only be done through constant prayer and reflection. What is certain, though, is that God revels himself everyday. God’s call can be experienced everyday. The challenge is for us to pay attention.
What is God calling me to do and How do I respond?
The answer is I do not know. I believe that God’s call in every person is unique as each person is gifted with unique talents, abilities and capacities. What I do know is this, we have one goal but we have different ways by which we attain that goal. That goal, to praise,love and serve God, is inscribed in all of us. We all have been born out of God’s love and we are called to respond in the best way we can. There is where God’s call comes in- for us to find out the best way by which we attain our goal of praising, loving and serving God.
This call is not easy. It takes faith-a faith that is trusting,committed,obedient and submissive to the will of God. It also implores us to be indifferent. When we say indifferent it means that we detach ourselves from those things that hinder us from responding to God’s call. These things such as our fears, obsessions, frustrations and self-doubt shackle us and prevents our freedom from loving God.
You may think that this call is such a tall order. Well, the thing is it is. It would not really be worth all the trouble if it was easy. But the things is, just like many things, responding to this call is a process- a process that may take years or even a lifetime. The beauty of it is that as we undertake the process, we are able to gain a lot of things that are pertinent to us living as children of God. The important thing is that we maintain a constant conversation with God through prayer and reflection.
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