In days past the Lord humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in days to come he will confer glory on the Way of the Sea on the far side of Jordan, province of the nations.
The people that walked in darkness
has seen a great light;
on those who live in a land of deep shadow
a light has shone.
You have made their gladness greater,
you have made their joy increase;
they rejoice in your presence
as men rejoice at harvest time,
as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.
For the yoke that was weighing on him,
the bar across his shoulders,
the rod of his oppressor –
these you break as on the day of Midian.
I appeal to you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you, and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice. From what Chloe’s people have been telling me, my dear brothers, it is clear that there are serious differences among you. What I mean are all these slogans that you have, like: ‘I am for Paul’, ‘I am for Apollos’, ‘I am for Cephas’, ‘I am for Christ.’ Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul that was crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul?
For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed.
Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.’
From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.
He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.
Since we moved to a new home last year, I have not found a new community to share my faith. Slowly, it felt like the fire within me starts to waver. I did not want to rush into joining a new one just for the sake of having one. This year I decided to start attending Makati Feast, which is one of the “branches” of the overall Kerygma Feast, a festive Catholic prayer meeting of the Light of Jesus Community.
On the night that I planned to attend the Makati Feast for the first time, something came up. No, there were no urgent meetings or overtime work of sort. I just got lazy. So at 6pm, I decided to go home early instead. But when I arrived at the van terminal, the queue was unusually long. As if reminding me of my original plan, my phone alarmed. I remember setting up my calendar “in case I forgot”. It was 7pm and yet the line has not moved. I took it as a sign and proceeded to the Makati Feast. And everything that follows after are not coincidental, but more of God’s plan in action. To date, three of my friends have already joined me in attending the Feast and another three will be joining me next week. All it takes was just following His call and the rest just falls into place.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus called 4 fishermen from the sea. From how the Gospel was written, Jesus did not elaborate what “fishers of men” clearly means, yet Simon, Andrew, James and John heeded His call and followed Him. We should do the same. When we hear or feel God is calling us to do something for His ministry, we should heed it immediately. And be amazed on how God works wonders in our lives and the lives around us.
Prayer
God our Father, often we run away, delay to heed Your call. May our love and desire to follow You persevere instead, so that we can inspire more people to follow You. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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