Come After Me - Gospel Reflection

Today in the Gospel reading, we hear about a great move, a great change and a leaving that could be for better or for worse. I'm always fascinated by the obedience the first Apostles had. In the book of Mark, Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees Simon, and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea. Jesus, a man they hardly know, calls out to them saying "Come after Me."


It's interesting because at this point scripture tells us that they abandon their nets and followed him. We have to understand that as a fisherman, was hard work, not only was it hard work but it was who they were, their livelihood, their careers and their professions. We're talking about tossing nets and pulling them in constantly throughout their lives. This sort of thing was the moneymaker for the individual or for the family, it was the trade. I think a comparison can be made with a modern day ambition or personal motive, or goals. The fact of the matter is that they just abandoned all that they had, their futures, careers an trades for something else. It's like changing majors a year before your set to graduate, let's face it...That isn't normal.

Again, they left having complete trust and obedience in Jesus who was proclaiming the gospel. The message earlier in the gospel is emphasizing that the time is now, this is the time of fulfillment. Not later, or tomorrow, or the next day but now. I can only imagine how that dialogue would of been:

Jesus: "Come after Me."

Simon: "Huh?"

Jesus: "Come after Me."

Andrew to Simon: "What'd he say?"

Simon to Andrew: "He said to follow him."

Jesus: "...I will make you fishers of men."

Simon: "Alright, give us a second, we just gotta pull these nets up real fast. It should only take a minute."

What? Like no. They just flat out left. In fact, there isn't any dialogue mentioned in the book of Mark. It's fascinating to me. I think the call to change is now, the call to follow is now and the gospel proves that. It reminds me of religious life. Sometimes in the morning I wake up two minutes before the set prayer time. There's no time to brush your hair or check your Facebook. In my head, that time is now. If your late, your late, there is no waiting. And it's just a reminder that the time to commit ourselves to following Christ is now, the time for living a life of prayer and virtue begins now. It was really comforting to hear the gospel this morning. There's always a reminder, today it was that reminder of forgetting about what you think you ought to do, your what you think you have to do because of ambition or pride. The call, is to leave that behind and take up something that's better.

Jesus tells us, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1:14-20