I will make you fishers of men

In this coming Sunday's Gospel reading from Matthew we hear the story of Jesus calling the first disciples. This story has become so familiar to many, used in particular to inspire people to respond to a call to priesthood and religious life. And yet, we cannot just focus only on those things. For, before Peter, Andrew, James, and John were called and equipped to be Apostles, they were first called to be disciples, to follow after Jesus.

Each one of us receives this same call, no matter our life situation or vocation. Jesus invites us again and again to "Come after" him. Through prayer, reading of Scripture, and reception of and participation in the sacramental life of the Church, we can encounter and learn from Jesus in our minds and hearts. By service to the poor and marginalized in our community, we can encounter and learn from him in the hungry, thirsty and lonely. By loving and caring for one another, we can encounter and learn from Jesus both physically and emotionally through our neighbor. All of these things are continual opportunities to follow after him... to go deeper... to open ourselves more to grace.

In the end, discipleship is meant for us to not just experience God's love in ourselves, but to equip us to go forth and to be fishers of people! So, let us pray this week that we may grow in our willingness to do the work of being a disciple! May we seek out and follow wherever the Lord leads. May we learn from him however and from whomever it is he wishes to teach us. And through all of this, may we proclaim his love in word and in action in whatever life situation or vocation we find ourselves, so as to show the world that the life of a Catholic Christian in a life worth living!

Want to prepare your heart and mind for Mass this weekend? Click here to find the readings this Sunday's Mass.