3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - 25/1/2015 - Gospel: MK 1: 14-20
Team work
One person can handle small projects well but when it comes to bigger projects it requires more than one person to carry it out. When there are more persons involve in the project then it requires having a leader to head the whole project.
Jesus is teaming up the team of men who would become His followers and change their professions forever. The project that Jesus is working on is known as the 'the fishers of men'. Jesus used the profession of fishermen to call to follow Him. They probably only had a vague idea what it meant to be 'fishers of men' and yet they followed Jesus. When the fisherman left their nets and boats behind to follow it was a sign of total commitment. It is the turning point of their life. To make the commitment more urgent Jesus said 'the time has come'. There is no time for delay because 'the time has come' for them to make a new start, to be trained for a new profession and to make a complete change to their way of life from the former life as fishermen to a new life as the 'fishers of men'. The crucial factor of the calling is for men. Jesus came to this world is for us. God's kingdom in heaven is for us. The 'fishers of men' is for us. To be a new person in Christ is for our benefits. Repent and believe in the Good News is for us. Repent and believe in the Good News is for us and that makes us a new person in Christ.
For any fisherman a net and boat are necessarily tools for the trade and when they left the tools behind it is a complete break from the pass. It is 'the time has come' for them to make a change: change their way of life and their way of thinking and change the way of their heart.
The fishermen had experienced from time to time that fish stock in the lake were poor and sometimes they spent all night long and caught nothing next morning. What made them change to a new way of life? Probably everything has made some contributions towards the change: the call to follow and the time has come and the poor fish stock in the lake but the most important factor that makes them change completely and quickly is the person of Jesus who made the call that magnetized them. There is some kind of mysterious attractiveness flowing out from Jesus that made them believe that, 'the time has come', for them to follow. It is the time for them to submit themselves under His leadership and be trained by Him. Individual life style and personal differences have put aside for the team work. They volunteered themselves to follow Jesus and adopt his way of life. Their preference is not individual lifestyle but the community lifestyle that is what attracts them and it is their new way of life.
Jesus is teaming up the team of men who would become His followers and change their professions forever. The project that Jesus is working on is known as the 'the fishers of men'. Jesus used the profession of fishermen to call to follow Him. They probably only had a vague idea what it meant to be 'fishers of men' and yet they followed Jesus. When the fisherman left their nets and boats behind to follow it was a sign of total commitment. It is the turning point of their life. To make the commitment more urgent Jesus said 'the time has come'. There is no time for delay because 'the time has come' for them to make a new start, to be trained for a new profession and to make a complete change to their way of life from the former life as fishermen to a new life as the 'fishers of men'. The crucial factor of the calling is for men. Jesus came to this world is for us. God's kingdom in heaven is for us. The 'fishers of men' is for us. To be a new person in Christ is for our benefits. Repent and believe in the Good News is for us. Repent and believe in the Good News is for us and that makes us a new person in Christ.
For any fisherman a net and boat are necessarily tools for the trade and when they left the tools behind it is a complete break from the pass. It is 'the time has come' for them to make a change: change their way of life and their way of thinking and change the way of their heart.
The fishermen had experienced from time to time that fish stock in the lake were poor and sometimes they spent all night long and caught nothing next morning. What made them change to a new way of life? Probably everything has made some contributions towards the change: the call to follow and the time has come and the poor fish stock in the lake but the most important factor that makes them change completely and quickly is the person of Jesus who made the call that magnetized them. There is some kind of mysterious attractiveness flowing out from Jesus that made them believe that, 'the time has come', for them to follow. It is the time for them to submit themselves under His leadership and be trained by Him. Individual life style and personal differences have put aside for the team work. They volunteered themselves to follow Jesus and adopt his way of life. Their preference is not individual lifestyle but the community lifestyle that is what attracts them and it is their new way of life.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia