The Call to be Fishers of Men

This weekend, we will begin our steady exploration of the Gospel of Mark. Our Sunday Gospel readings will focus on Mark’s narrative for most of this year, and this weekend, we will begin with Mark’s succinct summary of Jesus’s teaching: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

I write to you from snowy Wisconsin, where at my alma mater, I am taking a continuing education class on this Gospel of Mark. My professor has been explaining how this entire gospel is written in such a way as to invite us into the gospel story.

Mark will tell us on Sunday about the responses of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, to this message of Jesus to repent and believe. They left their nets to follow him, and Jesus tells them that he will make them fishers of men. My professor said that Mark tells us about this call story of the disciples in order to get us thinking about Christ’s call of discipleship for us and how we are responding to him.

As we anticipate this Sunday’s reading, I invite you to revisit your own call story—the moment you first heard the invitation of our Teacher to follow him and to be his disciple. These disciples were working as fishermen, and they were at the Sea of Galilee. Where were you? Who were you with? And what were you up to, when Jesus came to you, and called you to follow him?

What a privilege it is to be called together as his disciples here at St. Margaret’s. May we, like them, serve Christ by being “fishers of men” here in our community.