Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Let us not be like Jonah in the sense of what it took for him to convert the first time he was asked to go to Nineveh. He went in the opposite direction and then got on a boat that went into a storm and he hid in the hull of the boat until the others realized this storm that was about to sink them was because of him. They threw him over and he was swallowed by a whale and spit up after three days. The second time he was asked to go to Nineveh, he went quickly to announce repentance. What is God going to send me in order for me to learn wisdom, repentance and the desire to turn to him? Don’t tempt him!
Time is running out, no matter what age we are. Our life is like a mist; it fades quickly. It is beautiful how Christ goes to Galilee to look for these apostles; he seeks them out. And says, “Repent and believe in the gospel.” What is the gospel? It is the Good News and what is the Good News: Christ loves you, and died for you, and doesn’t leave you alone. Think of some of the events of your life that you thought would kill you. For me I only need to think of my mom’s dementia and how weak she was and somehow God made her really beautiful for me and for my family. God loves you and hasn’t forgotten you. When you have an experience of this love, announce it to those around you. Love them by taking a risk and saying what God has done for you.
Christ sees our anxiety, our fears, our search for happiness, often in the wrong places, and he comes looking for us as we see in the gospel. And he makes the apostles a promise: “I will make you fishers of men.” He will do it, not them. They are not capable of it, but he can. In time he will transform them not to be afraid and to have a love for all men, and women, and to give their life.
The sea in the Bible is a sign of death. Therefore, the fish are surrounded by death and as fishers of men how can the apostles rescue them. How can they do it? They are able only by their witness of overcoming their own situations of death, and how Jesus Christ rescued them. How in the storm on the sea, and the feeding of 5,000 men and in the midst of serious problems they didn’t sink.
As a Christian this is our mission. How are you a fisher of you wife, or husband, or your kids, or a colleague at work? Love them, speak to them, and show your concern for their suffering and their situation. A Christian is Christ for the other, especially in the dimension of love. This is what changed the hearts of the people. We love little and we love badly, especially in my case. Let us ask the Lord to give us this grace, this gift, to love as he does.