Matthew 4:12-23
Today’s Gospel recalls the story of Jesus’ call of the first disciples; today’s Gospel is all about the call. Jesus approaches Peter and Andrew as well as James and John and they ‘at once’ and ‘immediately’ drop what they are doing and follow Jesus.
This part of the story does not relate to our experience of God’s calling. Jesus does not seek us out at work/school to talk to us and if/when we hear God calling we tend to not go ‘at once’.
Part of hearing the call is about being open to answer the call. The lives of the early disciples had cultivated the soil of their hearts to make it fertile for planting; they didn’t know what they were looking for, but when Jesus called they were able to respond immediately because they were open. Everything in our life, every decision, either helps us to hear God’s voice or creates noise in our life that makes it more difficult to hear.
In order to be open like the disciples we need to take a page out of Jesus’ playbook. The Gospel begins with Jesus withdrawing from the place he was; Jesus needed time to reflect and pray after hearing the awful news that his older cousin was arrested. Throughout his life Jesus often retreated to be alone with God and to discern what he was called to do.
We too are called to reflection, discernment, and prayer. Jesus does not come talking to us on the beach as we fish, he speaks within us every day in a whisper (1 Kings 19:12). We are called to always practice being better listeners to the invitation of God within us and near us. We can hear God’s voice in our conscious and in the voices of those in need around us.
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