St. Joseph of the Lakes

Peter and Andrew are sitting in their boat mending their nets, and there Jesus appears calling to them. We are told that they left their boat and began to follow him. I find myself wondering what they saw or heard that compelled them  to immediately begin following him? There are not many who would react in such a way. Many will listen and ponder his words; some will question where he gets his wisdom; and still others will reject him because “they know where he comes from”. Yet in this particular moment Peter, Andrew, James and John hear him and leave everything behind. Had they heard of a man doing miraculous works and preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand? Or is this their first encounter with the stranger who invites them to follow him? 

In the Gospel of John, we read that Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist and he sees John look hard at Jesus and say: “Look, there is the lamb of God.” Andrew leaves John the Baptist and begins following Jesus. Jesus asks him: “what do you want?” and Andrew replies: “Rabbi-where do you live?” Jesus’ reply: “Come and see” Putting these two versions together one can get a sense that Andrew was searching for something greater in his life and in the encounter with John the Baptist discovers all he had been seeking in the meeting with Jesus. My sense is that the call from the fishing boats comes after this first encounter that John’s Gospel describes.

These four men knew something of Jesus before this call to follow at the boats. They had John the Baptist’s assurance that this man, Jesus, was the Lamb of God. We too have the assurance of the believing community that Jesus is the Son of God and within that knowledge we can each be called in the same way as Peter, James, John and Andrew were on that wonderful day.  My hope is that when and if that call comes, we might cling to the faith of the community and generously follow it, as opposed to pondering and questioning where the call is coming from.