February 6, 2022

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~

In the Gospel this Sunday, the apostles catch a great number of fish because of Jesus’ intervention. They are excited to catch so many fish yet the fish are simply an analogy of the great productivity that comes from serving God. Jesus says they will become fishers of men. The bountiful catch is symbolic of the number of future disciples they will be gaining for the Kingdom of God. This future catch is dependent on one thing – their holiness.

As Christians we have inherited a universal call to holiness or sanctity; that is to say, God desires and equips us to be saints, but most Christians don’t try. Failure to pursue sanctity saddens Our Lord and eventually us; for one day we will stand before Our Lord at our final judgement and see all too clearly at that time what our failure to try has cost us – and others.

Regardless of our state in life, we can become saints: priests, consecrated religious, married, single, employed, unemployed, laborers, homemakers, students, soldiers, prisoners, etc. It doesn’t matter what we are doing or our situation in life, God is equipping us to be saints and through us, to lead others to Jesus Christ, His Church, salvation, and holiness.

We can see in the Gospels Jesus calling some of the 12 Apostles to follow him, but not all. Perhaps Jesus called more than 12 but the ones we know of are the ones who accepted His invitation. Leaving spouses, children, a good reputation, safety, e.g., for God is scary business. We are reminded of the wealthy young man who asked to follow Jesus as one of his apostles. Jesus asked the wealthy young man to give away everything he had to the poor and follow Him. The wealthy young man went away sad for he had many possessions. Now the wealthy young man wasn’t damned, for Jesus had asked him if he was obeying the commandments of God and the young man said ‘yes’. Jesus in reply said “then you are saved” (I’m paraphrasing). The take away from this story is that we can be saved by being obedient to the laws of God as His Church teaches them; however we can also aspire to a greater participation in the Kingdom of God and its rewards by pursuing a life of sanctity, with sanctity being much more challenging than simply being an observant Catholic, which has its own natural challenges.

What Jesus didn’t call people to was being single, married, or having a career (fisherman, tax collecting, etc.). That’s because God made us for those things (we’re born single). When God invites someone to something (a vocation), it’s to what they don’t possess by nature. In this case sanctity, or a life dedicated to Him in celibacy, poverty and obedience; foregoing the three goods God has given us in nature: family, acquiring of goods, and self-determination. This is one of those things I’d love to research further and write a book one day (good luck with that). Until then, here’s a great article you can look up that explores this topic but is too long for this pastor’s column.

With God’s grace, we can do this. We can become the saints Our Lord desires us to be. We can become “fishers of men” and help others to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ in this life so as to be happy with Him forever in the next life.

In Christ, I Love You,