As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him… (Mk 1:14-20).
God is good, all the time.
Friends, we celebrate this weekend as the Sunday of the Word of God. In its wisdom, the church seeks to remind us of the special place of the Word of God for us to reflect and resolve to make time to know it and to make it the guiding principles for our lives, to love it, taste it, and savor it, live by it.
The profound thing about the bible, we must understand, is that it reveals the mind of God to us. The gospels do not only talk about Jesus; the Word is Jesus. To have the bible in your hand, to touch its pages, feel its tangible presence, and smell its fragrance is an incredible experience to have.
The thought of the bible should stir in us insatiable desire to carry it to church; such effort must not be frown upon or approached reluctantly. Who knows when a phrase, a word, or a verse will come in a flash to you, which you must check it out to hear that which God wants to speak to you? And if you cannot read it or find the time to do so, why not make use of the electronic media that facilitates and helps fulfill desires and quest to know and experience the word of God.
The place of the Word of God in our lives is accentuated in the readings today. The first reading from Jonah speaks about the power of God's Word to change and transform hearts. The Ninevites who were out of touch with God's Word and became steeped in their sinful ways turned to God in repentance the moment God's Word was preached to them by Jonah. What a true and assuring lesson that we can count on God’s Word to pray for the most hardened hearts, stony hearts to transform.
The call of the first four disciples was falls within the context of preach the Word of God to people. “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men." The mission of the disciples was to preach the word and preserve life. Jesus came to the world as the perfect man. The full definition of life and what constitutes life matures and becomes the touchstone of our conception of life in Jesus.
The meaning of life as it relates to Jesus is rendered full demonstration in the death of Jesus on the cross. It is important to pause for a moment and look for the answer concerning why the soldier pierced the side of Jesus when he was already dead. Well, let me tell you. It had to happen so that blood and water would flow from his side; blood symbolizing life, the soul, which occurs right in the womb of the mother; water symbolizing baptism by which we die with Christ and rise with him to save us. It is why Jesus did not need baptism but was baptized to indicate that life is seamless; it starts from the womb as blood and must be permitted to live to experience the benefit of Jesus’ death through baptism.
Therefore, let us understand how God teaches us the meaning of life and how it is constituted. Let us understand that even as a clot of blood, there is a soul who has a relationship with God, the creator of it. It is this life from conception to natural death that Jesus called the disciples to use the Word of God to protect and preserve by speaking the Word to explain it. And it is this very mission that the church carries out.
All lives matter to God. The story of Jonah and the Ninevites reveals how much God cares for the souls of the living, no matter the geography, color, ethnicity, and creed they identify with. The death of Jesus reveals that the soul of the unborn matters to God because even as blood, it is life, it is a soul that must be born to experience baptism so that it can share in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We are all called to expand our understanding of life and preserve it properly. As people, families, nation, we can make a mistake and go against this understanding of life. But we must not justify it or make a mistake the norm. We must change it and make it right. We must let the Word of Jesus reach our ears once again, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.”