The Call

 

 John 1: 35-42

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter.

 We might marvel at this simple first encounter with Jesus based on curiosity but later became a vocation which took these men from their fishing nets and made them pillars of the Church we belong to today. As members of that Church, we too are called to leave our nets behind, some in greater degrees than others, but nevertheless, called to bring others into his  net as believers and disciples of Jesus. As we continue to reflect during Christmas Time on the implications of the Birth of Jesus, let us pray to hear what God is calling us to do and follow with the same generosity and trust of James, John, Andrew and Peter.

Bro. Rene

Good and gracious God, when the apostles responded to Jesus’ invitation to come and follow him, they recognized him as the Messiah. Grant each of us the grace to follow Christ, who calls us each by name. We ask this in his holy name. Amen.

 Rev. Stephen Lacroix, C.S.C.