Homily for November 30, 2019

There is a beautiful simplicity to the story of the call of Andrew and his brother Simon, as well as the other set of brothers, James and John. Jesus saw Simon and Andrew casting a net into the sea, going about their daily work, and He called out to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We are told that the brothers immediately followed Him.

However, it’s possible that Matthew may have simplified the conversion experience of these two fishermen, which may have been more complicated. It would be natural to expect some resistance to the call of Jesus because answering it would mean leaving behind all that they ever knew, as well as their whole livelihood, and heading out into “uncharted waters.” Catching people is harder than catching fish. However, whatever tentativeness Andrew and Simon may or may not have felt, they clearly overcame it and went with Jesus and they became great evangelists, preaching well of the gospel of Christ.

Perhaps it could be said that the LORD works in our lives in much the same way as He did the lives of Andrew and Simon, and James and John. He often calls us out to people in the midst of their daily tasks; in the ordinary and sometimes humdrum moments of our lives. He calls us to go beyond where we are, beyond the familiar, beyond our comfort zone, into the service of God’s kingdom. That call can come to us in small and subtle ways. We may find ourselves resisting it, but if we listen to it and allow it to echo within us, and respond positively to it, we may find that the LORD works through us for good in ways that can surprise us. +