Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. – Mark 1:17-18
Has God ever come along and changed everything in your life? Maybe it was a decision that caused you to move away from your home to take a new job in a new city. Or perhaps a family member needed your help, and you had to rearrange your life to help them. Whatever the circumstances, big changes can often leave you with a feeling of adventure as well as a feeling of uncertainty. To be able to respond to change with a peaceful heart requires trust that God will take care of us, especially when we are seeking to follow His will.
Simon and Andrew were fishing in their boat when Jesus came along and changed their lives forever. Just a simple invitation from Him moved them to leave their livelihood behind and become His disciples. The same goes for James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were also in their boat when Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, called them to join Him. They left their livelihood and their father behind. It makes me laugh thinking of Zebedee sitting in the boat watching His sons leave him behind, looking around at the hired hands wondering what just happened!
I think it is interesting that Jesus chose pairs of brothers to be His first disciples. This causes me to reflect on how we at Church of the Magdalen have been so blessed by Fr. Kerschen and Fr. Seth, two priests with birthdays so close that we celebrate them together. Their brotherly love for each other and their fatherly love for us shines out clearly. Just like the first disciples, Jesus has called them to leave their “family” (our Magdalen family) behind and follow Him in new missions to build up God’s kingdom. Just like Zebedee, the rest of us are sitting in the boat wondering what’s next! All kidding aside, please join me in praying for all our priests and in thanksgiving for being the faces of Christ for us and for the tireless way they have served us.
Change comes to all of us; it’s how we respond that sets a peaceful heart apart. Fr. Jacques Philippe wrote, “We are not always masters of the unfolding of our lives, but we can always be masters of the meaning we give them. Our freedom can transform any event in our lives into an expression of love, abandonment, trust, hope, and offering. The most important and most fruitful acts of our freedom are not those by which we transform the outside world as those by which we change our inner attitude in light of the faith that God can bring good out of everything without exception” (Interior Freedom).
Jesus, grant me the grace to face the changes in my life with serenity and trust in You. May I always remember that in the ever-changing circumstances of my life You never change, but remain “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).