Gone Fishin'

 

I am humbled by the fact that the first Gospel reading I am called to reflect on for this blog includes the words of Jesus; the words of which this blog is named.  As he calls the fishermen, he says, “I will make you fishers of men.”  It seems that it was so easy for these men to drop their nets and abandon their livelihoods and follow him.  Maybe it was as simple as the fish were not just biting!  Perhaps they said, ‘Well, this isn’t working, let’s give following this guy a shot!’

I have very little experience with fishing.  I tried it only a coup of times – for recreational purposes only.  I have to say I never really liked it.  I think what always frustrated me about fishing was its unpredictability.  It seemed, at least in my amateur view, that no matter how prepared you are, no matter what equipment you have, it is always dependent on whether or not the fish are biting.  Now, it is easy for me to say fishing frustrated me, because I only did it for fun, but these guys that would become disciples fished to make a living.  It was vital that they come to a way to be successful, but at the end of the day, it all depended on whether the fish were biting.

I wonder as they abandoned their work to accept Jesus’ invitation to become a fisher of men, if they thought that going with him might be easier than what they were doing.  Perhaps they were facing a period of downturn in the fishing business.  Maybe the fish were just not biting.  So maybe they were ready to try something new.  Did they just throw their nets down and say, ‘I’ve had enough’?

Or maybe everything was going great.  Maybe the fishing was a big success.  Maybe the fish were biting.  Maybe they were just excellent fishermen that always brought in a huge haul of fish and Jesus said, ‘I’ve got to have them on my team!’

The reality is we do not know why they followed him, or for that matter, why they were even called at all.  One thing for sure is they were called, and they went.  Each of us are called as well.  Those who are Baptized Christians can point to our Baptisms as the origin of our being called.  But all of us are called because we are loved by our creator.  The challenge each day is to respond to the call.

Just like fishing for fish, fishing for men can be very challenging.  There are many times when the fish will be biting and everything we do for the sake of the Lord will seem easy and effortless.  Other times the fish may not be biting, and we can feel desolation.  There will be times when we find ourselves in waters full of fish.  Other times we will be in seemingly empty waters. 

I wonder about those fishermen.  When they returned each late afternoon after a day fishing on the water, they were probably asked how it went.  Of course, how their day went would be judged on how many fish were in the net.  Good days would mean the nets were full.  Not so good days were days with empty nets.  The reality is that on both good days and bad days, the fishermen still spent the day fishing.  They spent the day doing what they were called to do.

And so, as fishers of men and women, we will have good days and bad days.  But we will not be judged on how full our nets are.  We will simply be judged on whether or not we answered the Lord’s call, on whether or not we went fishing.

- Your Servant