“They Abandoned Their Nets” by Rev. Paul Berghout

“They Abandoned Their Nets” by Rev. Paul Berghout

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Sunday of the Word of God

Piety

Jonah began his journey through the city and had gone but a single day’s walk
announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” When the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.  Jonah 3:4,10 

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.  Mark 1:16-18

Study 

Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

According to the saying, one type of fishing is through activities, “If you want to catch fish, you don’t use bait you like; you use bait the fish like.” 

Youth enjoy water sports, so our parish Scout troop has an annual Virginia Beach day, and we stay on a campground with two outdoor pools with water slides and water basketball.  We also celebrate Mass celebrated during the trip.

Going more in-depth would be to have a mission hymn or song used daily and at the campfire and a Bible passage as a theme to inculcate a spirit of evangelism as we do on World Youth Days. 

Another type of fishing for people is through personal example regarding a moral conversion.  In this example, your bait is the truth that God accepts us before we become acceptable. He loved us even when we were far from him, and he died for us.

Some people realize that following just our appetites does not conform our will to what is truly good.  Nor does it lead to real happiness. For such a person to turn around is like what happened to the people of Nineveh in our First Reading: “When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.” 

The U.S. Catholic Bishop’s website explains that in 1 Corinthians 6, St. Paul turns to the opinion of some Corinthians that sexuality is a morally indifferent area. This leads him to explain the mutual relation between the Lord Jesus and our bodies, saying 1 Corinthians 6:9: “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.  That is what some of you used to be, but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God.

“Getting caught” refers not only to conversion of life but also to the commission, so the one converted try to help others who are where [RPAB1] he or she was. From Christ, we discover a new maturity of one’s humanity that makes one want to share one’s journey with others to help them. 

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1867. He made a fortune in the mining industry, but it was also used in war, which made him very sad even though he was prosperous. Then something interesting happened. One morning he awoke to read the daily newspaper, and get this, his obituary, it read:

 

“Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before. He died a very rich man.” 

The newspaper had made a mistake; Alfred’s older brother was the one who died. But, as you could probably imagine, the obituary had a profound effect on him.  He realized he didn’t want to be known primarily as the person who developed the most effective killing machine of his generation and amassed a fortune doing it. So, Alfred Nobel founded the Nobel Prize—an award for scientists and writers who foster peace.

The third type of fishing for people is to use God’s Word in the Bible, and the bait takes time to make, which means studying the Bible and catechism.  One must first prepare what to say using the Word of God, which “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:11).  

There is ancient iconography portraying the apostles Paul and Peter with a sword and a net, respectively. There is also a medieval German woodcut of Peter, the fisher of men, with a wicker fish trap on his head instead of a tiara! [source: Saints and their attributes, Helen Roeder, Chicago, H. Regnery Co., 1956, pg. 23].

Action

Lastly, to be a fisher of people is to do it-- fish or cut bait.  Today, our Gospel says they abandoned their nets, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat along with his hired men. They followed Jesus. We have no backstory on their callings. Had they listened to him preach? Amos heard the imperative calling in his heart and also Jeremiah. Whatever the case, they dropped everything and followed him. We get so bogged down with many essential commitments. However, the most pressing thing is to follow Jesus and pray and work for the salvation of souls. 

Jesus does not follow the custom of his time where disciples chose their teacher, reassuring us that he calls us, and we follow.  He makes of the fishermen something new, what he will and wants.  Amen.