Dear Brothers and Sisters:
John the Baptist was arrested and Jesus withdrew to Galilee; he left his small town of Nazareth and went to make his home in Capernaum. Probably it does not mean much to us but Nazareth was a small town of two hundred people and Capernaum and that area was despised by the Jews since there were many foreigners there. And this is where Jesus went to start his ministry and preach; many of his apostles came from this area. He left his comfortable surroundings and went to the New York City of its day.
Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were the first to be exiled, and now they will be the first to have the Good News preached to them. Jesus will restore their former glory. Also the new Cardinal in Newark was sent to be archbishop of Indianapolis four years ago, not exactly a step up after being in Rome for many years. Recently Pope Francis made him a cardinal and put him in the Archdiocese of Newark as the archbishop a few miles from the cardinal in New York. This is very unusual. The gospel is filled with events like this. So if you seem worried about your situation in life, or in school, or in your marriage, be patient God will reverse it all, and you don’t have to do anything. Rather than worrying I invite you to pray an Our Father, or read a chapter in the New Testament, or look at the crucifix on your desk. Don’t give in to worry; you have a choice, you can pray. You can put God first and soon those troubles may be still present but they will not seem so overwhelming. You can put them in perspective when you see them with faith.
Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee for a while, maybe hours, and he spotted these two brothers, Peter and Andrew, who were fishermen. He saw that they worked well, unselfconsciously, dedicated, and they were very good with this special net that had weights in it. They threw it in the water and it sank immediately and Jesus saw how good they were in catching or trapping fish and so he called them and said I will make you fishers not of fish, but of men.
St. Peter Faber, one of the first three Jesuits, was also a good catcher of men. He was in Germany right at the time of the Protestant revolt and he gave many leading men and women the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and hundreds of them came back to the Church with a great fervor and faith. He did the same in Portugal and in Spain. He had a gift is dealing with people and many entire cities changed because of him.
Jesus called two sets of brothers so that he could create a family. You cannot be a Christian today by yourself; you need a community of people who support you and help you. The second set of brothers was James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were rich or at least they had a boat, and when called they left their fishing and their boat and their father. They put God first. And they invite you to do the same. It doesn’t mean to ignore you parents, but put God first, and you will see you will have more peace in your life.
Jesus tells the people to repent, to change their ways, change your way of thinking. Don’t give in to worries. You have a choice, and God is inviting you to act differently. Let us say it together, Father, I repent of my sin, of my worries and I will lean on you; you are my only strength. I pray in the name of your Son, Jesus that I will not worry and be anxious about my life, and I will choose you. Say that when you feel worried and overwhelmed and God will help you.