Today we hear about the beginning of Jesus public ministry in the Gospel of Mark. He
proclaims: This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Mark’s Gospel moves swiftly with Jesus inviting fisherman to help in his mission of proclaiming this message. I really like Jesus’ choice of fishermen to help with catching people for His Kingdom.
Fishing is something I realy enjoy. When you go fishing the right equipment is needed to catch the fish: poles, bait, hooks, lures, and nets. The main goal is to attract the fish so you can catch them. When you’re fishing you also need to go out to find them. You don’t just wait on the shore for them to come to you. You need to know go out in order to catch them. This may be going out in deep waters in the middle of a stormy night or to hidden coves amongst the brush early in the morning. Fishing can be disappointing when you don’t catch any, but when you do it brings great joy. It takes perseverance and hard work to be a good fisherman. I think these qualities is what Jesus was looking for when he called Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow him in his mission.
How were the apostles supposed to catch people? By following the lead of Jesus in proclaiming the Good News to those who were most in need. The coming of the Kingdom of God gave hope to the Jewish people. It meant liberation from oppression by the Romans. But the Kingdom of God that Jesus was preaching meant something more: the joy of eternal life in the presence of the Lord.
How did Jesus show the apostles how to catch people for this Kingdom? By their actions of going out to show love for their neighbor, healing and restoring those who were isolated from the community. This type of love is known as Agape. I read a quote this past week by Martin Luther King Jr that made this point very well: Agape is something of the understanding, creative redemptive goodwill for all men. When you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, no because they are likable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. This type of love is something we really need in our world today given all the violence and division we’ve recently experienced in our nation.
The twofold proclamation of Jesus was to repent and believe in the Gospel. This repentance came about through an encounter with Jesus. Jesus reached out to those who were isolated from the community due to an illness, possession, or a different culture. These people were isolated because it was thought that their affliction was due to their sins, and were excluded from being able to worship with their community. Jesus went out to encounter these people in their own environment, listening to them, and healing them so they could return to their community. Through this encounter a conversion came about that led them to become his disciples.The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is a good example of an encounter with Jesus that led to repentance and becoming a disciple of Jesus.
We all know many people who are in need of conversion. Some have never encountered Jesus or heard the Good news in a positive way. They may have only heard of eternal punishment that would come their way if they didn’t make a change in their life. A negative message like this is not the way to attract people to become a disciple of Jesus. If you want to catch people for Jesus it must be done with love. We can follow this same example of Jesus of encountering others to listen to their needs with love, and not judging or condemning them. This is something we really need to bring about conversion in our world today.
We are all called to repentance as well so we can enter the Kingdom of God. Each week we have an opportunity to do so for ourselves and also as a community when we come together at Mass. We join together in the penitential rite recalling our own sins as a worshipping community. In the penitential rite the priest asks God for his mercy on us, that He forgive our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Through the Mass we receive the mercy of God in the Eucharist. This is the Good news that we all hope for!
The Eucharist along with the Sacrament of Reconciliation continually helps us repent so that we can be disciples of Jesus and enter his Kingdom. As you leave Mass today remember to persevere in loving others, even those you may not like, so you can help Jesus catch people for the Kingdom of God.
