“… He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea … Jesus said … ‘Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’… they left their nets and followed Him. He … saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. … in a boat mending their nets. … He called them. … they left their father … and followed Him.”
Mass Readings 1.12.15 — HEB 1:1-6 — PS 97:1 AND 2B, 6 AND 7C, 9 — MK 1:14-20 — Find a Mass: MassTimes.org — Find a Mass: TheCatholicDirectory.com
First Reading
After previously speaking through Prophets, with the Arrival of the Messiah God speaks to us through His Son, through Whom Creation was made, Who shares the Father’s Glory and sustains all by His Word.
… in these last days, He spoke to us through the Son, Whom He made Heir of all things and through Whom He created the universe … the Refulgence of His Glory, the very Imprint of His Being … Who sustains all things by His Mighty Word. … * * * He says: Let all the Angels of God worship him.
Responsorial Psalm
PSALM 97:1 AND 2B, 6 AND 7C, 9
Let all His Angels worship Him.
Gospel: Call of the Apostles
John the Baptist has been arrested. Jesus proclaims the Gospel in Galilee.
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: ‘This is the Time of Fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.’
(Recall that “the Gospel” Jesus refers to is not simply the published, written Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that we are familiar with,but a broader concept of The Good News, the combined Truth, Invitation to Eternal Life, and Law of God’s Love that Jesus brings and represents. It is never said that Jesus writes anything down, except when He scratches in the dirt while saving a woman from stoning. The written Gospels will not be written down and Canonized by the Church for many decades to come.)
At the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calls two sets of fishermen brothers from the midst of them practicing their trade — Simon (Peter) and Andrew, and James and John.
He tells Peter and Andrew that He will make them fishers of men.
… by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea … Jesus said … ‘Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’… they left their nets and followed Him.
He … saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. … in a boat mending their nets. … He called them. … they left their father … and followed Him.
Do we listen for Jesus’ call to us, and His Commissioning of us as actors in God’s Divine Plan? Will we be attentive and willing to follow Him, as the Apostles did?
Jesus could have called the Apostles at any time. Yet it is in the midst of their daily life, and their livelihood that He chooses to call them. Meanwhile, their life experience in their earthly work provides a rich theme for their future Apostolic Mission — they will become fishers of men.
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