The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how we are called to act as disciples of Jesus.
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| Walk the walk |
In the reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Christians are assured that no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame.
* [10:9–11] To confess Jesus as Lord was frequently quite hazardous in the first century (cf. Mt 10:18; 1 Thes 2:2; 1 Pt 2:18–21; 3:14). For a Jew it could mean disruption of normal familial and other social relationships, including great economic sacrifice. In the face of penalties imposed by the secular world, Christians are assured that no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame (Rom 10:11).1
The Psalmist shares the Creator’s wisdom is available to human beings in the law.
* [Psalm 19] The heavenly elements of the world, now beautifully arranged, bespeak the power and wisdom of their creator (Ps 19:2–7). The creator’s wisdom is available to human beings in the law (Ps 19:8–11),2
Jesus calls the First Disciples in the passage from the Gospel of Matthew.
* [4:18–22] The call of the first disciples promises them a share in Jesus’ work and entails abandonment of family and former way of life. Three of the four, Simon, James, and John, are distinguished among the disciples by a closer relation with Jesus (Mt 17:1; 26:37).3
Larry Gillick, S.J. and a colleague are guiding a class of twenty-five fourth-year students through their praying of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius...Their huge question, of course, is how do they know they are doing what will be good, successful, fruitful and are they doing God’s Will!
Andrew and his fishing companions seemed to have it easier. They heard and listened and lept. Good for Andrew and all who had first-face encounters with the Word Made Flesh. They heard, listened also to something inside them and were somehow attracted to hear more. Whatever is good, we will always want more of it. The good inside us, in our souls, longs for something more always. These four heard the Word which also spoke to what we call, their “deepest desires.”
Our students find this listening to their “deepest desires” quite conflictual. In searching for these deep longings they are moved to confront their usual selfish, self-centered desires for more “fish” more success, more of the more. Andrew and his companions were forced after their beginning relationship with Jesus about these same healthy human invitations. Our students are spending their prayer-time in agonizing twistings about just how are they going to follow Jesus within the experiencing of their “deepest desires.” No easy answers in the Spiritual Exercises and in the spiritual life of hearing the Word.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus chooses them for what they can become,” by an anonymous early author from the Greek church.
"'Before he says or does anything, he calls the apostles so nothing may be concealed from them as to Christ's words or works and they may later say in confidence: 'For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard' (Acts 4:20). He sees them not bodily but spiritually, regarding not their appearance but their hearts. And he chooses them not as apostles but because they could become apostles. Just as an artist who sees precious, and not rough-hewn, stones chooses them - not because of what they are but because of what they can become. Like the sensitive artist who does not spurn the unshaped good - so too the Lord, upon seeing them, does not choose their works but their hearts." (excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 7, the Greek fathers).5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 4:18-22 notes the fishermen had a personal encounter with Jesus. On their own, they would never have made such a decision. Andrew, whose feast we celebrate today, would never have gone on to preach the gospel in Greece and Turkey and die the heroic death of a martyr. But after he experienced the love of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, he did.
It’s important to know that Jesus didn’t choose Andrew and Peter at random, and he didn’t issue them generic invitations to follow him. There must have been many other fishermen on the lake that day, but he zeroed in on these two men. And he did it carefully; he knew what would most resonate in their hearts. He knew what words would help them the most, what tone of voice would be the most compelling.
This is how Jesus calls you. He isn’t distracted or halfhearted or distant. He reaches out in a way that he knows will touch your heart and give you confidence to answer his call.6
Friar Jude Winkler underlines the eschatology of Paul noting we will be saved at the end of time. Paul defines our justification now, our redemption by Jesus on the cross and our salvation at the end of time. Friar Jude is reminded by the call of the apostles of our call to be transformed to being a sign of the Kingdom.
The article by Franciscan media about Saint Andrew mentions the legend that Andrew preached the Good News in what is now modern Greece and Turkey and was crucified at Patras on an X-shaped cross. As in the case of all the apostles except Peter and John, the Gospels give us little about the holiness of Andrew.
He was an apostle. That is enough. He was called personally by Jesus to proclaim the Good News, to heal with Jesus’ power and to share his life and death. Holiness today is no different. It is a gift that includes a call to be concerned about the Kingdom, an outgoing attitude that wants nothing more than to share the riches of Christ with all people.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites the work of Sharif Abdullah, author of “Creating a World that Works for All” as he describes the role of Mender. We are Menders [when] we believe the Earth and our fellow humans need to be healed from the excesses of exclusivity, and we live our daily lives in accordance with this belief. . . . Our goal is to live as a consciously integral part of a living, conscious, and sacred planet. [5]
You can cultivate Mender skills by developing the following:
Your Mender self seeks to transcend the individual self, and desires transcendent experiences.Your Mender self is holistic and ecologic, desires peace and sustainability, and thinks in terms of global realities.Your Mender self desires to practice compassion—for self, others and the more-than-human environment.Your Mender self celebrates and explores its differences from and similarities to The Other. [6]8
Our relationship with Jesus is the Way in which our transformation as disciples will be accomplished in service of the Will of God.
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