he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow
me, and I will make you fish for people.” At once, they abandoned their nets and followed him. Jesus went a little farther on and saw James and John, the sons of
Zebedee; they were in their boat mending their nets. Immediately Jesus called them and they followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men.
LECTIO DIVINA:
READ: Jesus continues the preaching ministry that John inaugurated and began
to look for collaborators, like-minded men who would help Him spread the Good
News. His first recruits are the fishermen along the shore of Lake Galilee. The Lord
was lucky in the sense that no one refused His invitation. All immediately left their
work and followed Him.
REFLECT: Why does Jesus recruit from the ranks of fishermen? He was after all a
carpenter. He would have plenty of friends in there. But why the fishermen? Perhaps
because the symbolic meaning of the work tends to reinforce the mission Jesus
receives from the Father. His mission is to fish men and women for the Kingdom
He will inaugurate soon. It is not about building structures but casting nets to
catch multitude of believers. So, from the very onset of Jesus’ public ministry, He
already set the tone. His conscious selection of His closest collaborators says as
much. The work is to seek and reach out to all men and women of goodwill so that
a family of believers will be created round the teachings of the Lord.
RESPOND: We all love to see beautiful structures. The Church throughout the
millennia have achieved architectural marvels and other work of arts. Yet the work
of mission continues until now undistracted by the preoccupation of structures.
We are invited to support this missionary endeavor through our material and
spiritual support of praying for our missionaries and their mission. And if you
can lend your time and talent to advance the mission of God, that would be
something wonderful.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021
