Come after Me, and I will make you Fishers of Men!

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

READINGS:
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel: Mark 1:24-20

FOCUS: Jesus wants to make all of us into “fishers of men,” people draw others into God’s kingdom.

FUNCTION: Act as a “fisher of men” and bring others to follow the Lord. 

          I have a lot of admiration for people who really know how to fish…because I don’t.  I mean, I REALLY don’t.  It’s so bad, embarrassing, really.  But I guess I’ll tell you about it, anyway.    

          I attach the bobber to my line, put a worm on the end of my hook, and cast my line into the water.  And then I wait, and I wait, and then I wait some more.  Sometimes, I think I’ve got a bite and so I try to hook my fish and I reel it in, only to find out it’s only seaweed or some other useless thing.  Darn.  Epic failure.  So I cast my line again, hoping that I might actually catch a fish this time.  Finally, I feel a tug on the line and so I try to hook the fish and reel it in, only to realize that the darn fish got my worm but I didn’t get the fish! 

          And it’s like this over and over again.  No wonder I don’t do much fishing!  I’m no good at it!  Now you can understand why I admire people who really know how to fish!  It’s tough…or at least it is for me!

          But thanks be to God that we’re not called to be actual fishermen!  I’m sure that the Lord’s disciples – Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John – all had more luck as actual fishermen than I usually have.  And knowing that these men were fishermen by trade, when Jesus called them to follow Him, He did something really interesting.  He called them to do something different but also somewhat the same.  He said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

      

Jesus’ invitation basically acknowledged that, while fishing is important and provides food for people to eat, it’s not as important as working to bring people into God’s heavenly kingdom.  Of course, Jesus wasn’t as interested in catching fish as He was in “catching people” – fishing for men and women – and saving the immortal souls of the people the world. 

          We need to understand the importance of the first words of Jesus’ public ministry so that we might also understand His mission and the mission of His disciples.  When Jesus began his ministry, He said, “This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  With those first words, Jesus was both inaugurating and announcing a new era – a time of prophetic fulfillment – a time in which the kingdom of God would now be made known to Israel and to the world.  And the best response to this new era would be to repent of past sins and believe in the gospel message: the good news that God wished to announce to the whole world through Christ and His disciples.

          In calling Simon and his brother, Andrew, and James and his brother John, Jesus was recruiting disciples who could follow after Him and participate with Him in the work of announcing and making present the kingdom of God.  There was a strong sense of urgency about it all.  Jesus had said that this was the time of fulfillment, the time for the coming of the kingdom of God.

          And the kingdom of God needed heralds.  These two sets of brothers were chosen by Christ the Lord to be the first of the kingdom’s heralds, announcing the good news of God’s salvation to Israel and the world.  And Jesus would make them  “fishers of men,” men who would “catch” people for God’s kingdom, so that the people of Israel and the world could come to the knowledge of truth and enter into God’s promised salvation.

          Simon and Andrew, James and John – and others as well – all heeded the Lord’s invitation and became, truly, “fishers of men” – heralds of the kingdom – men who helped to advance the message of God’s salvation.  But the invitation was not meant to end with them.  It was extended to others as well.  And now Christ’s message has reached our ears: “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  In all honesty, it’s the most exciting work on the face of God’s green earth – to work for the advancement of God’s kingdom, to labor for the proclamation of the gospel, and to pour out one’s life for the salvation of others.

          And this great job wasn’t given only to the Lord’s first disciples – or to their successors, the bishops – or to the bishops’ helpers, the priests and deacons.  Neither was this great job given solely to the men and women of religious life – those who decided to follow Christ the Lord through “the evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  No, it was given to all of Christ’s faithful – to all those who had received new birth in Christ through the saving waters of baptism, to all those who had received the sacred mysteries of the Lord’s Body and Blood, to all those who had heard the message of the gospel and believed.  This great job was given to ALL Christians, not just a few. 

          To all of us gathered here today, Christ says, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  There is a great urgency for us to be about this work of bringing others into the kingdom of God.  Many threats have risen up in the world and now endanger the eternal salvation of the people who practice them.         

          The New Age movement, for instance, is experiencing a great resurgence, drawing people into dangerous spiritual practices such as consulting fortune tellers, tarot card readers, mediums, astrologers, and psychics, just to name a few.  Involvement in these practices were condemned by God as early as the time of Moses as a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me.”  Involvement in these things continues to grow because people have either not heard, or not fully heard, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of salvation.

          And since today is January 22^nd – the 39^th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe V. Wade, which nationally legalized abortion – it’s important for us to realize that there are currently a great many assaults on the dignity and sanctity of human life, through the threats of abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, in-vitro fertilization, and many others.  These various threats to the dignity and sanctity of human life continue to grow because people have not heard the Gospel of Life.

          These are only two examples of why we need to be about the work of advancing the kingdom of God.  Jesus wants to make us fishers of men!  Through our efforts, He wants people to be saved and inherit the promise of eternal life.  How can people be saved if there’s no one to preach? 

          We must be like Jonah in the first reading.  If we don’t tell people that, because of the way they’re living they’re headed to perdition, then they will surely be destroyed.  And we’d be culpable for their destruction, just as Jonah, to some degree, would have been culpable for the destruction of the people of Nineveh if he failed to proclaim to them God’s message of repentance.

          Jesus now says to all of us gathered here, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  And so let us respond like the first disciples, or like Jonah, and go forth from here to announce the good news of the kingdom, all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.                                                

Keep the Faith, but Don't Keep it to Yourself!

Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

READINGS:

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
Gospel: John 1:35-42

FOCUS: Being a disciple of Jesus means following Him and helping others to do the same.

FUNCTION: Invite a friend to come with you to Church; share your faith about Jesus. 

          Operation Andrew is a program here in the Archdiocese of Dubuque aimed at helping young men answer God’s call to discern a vocation to the priesthood.  What usually happens is a priest picks out a young man or two from the local community who he thinks could make a good priest and then invites him (or them) to the Operation Andrew dinner.  Priests and candidates then eat and pray together as well as discuss questions the candidates might have about the vocation to the priesthood.  It’s a chance for young men to get an “inside view” of the priesthood directly from parish priests themselves and gain a glimpse into the dynamics of priestly life and ministry.

          The program takes its name from the Gospel we just heard, especially the part where it said, “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.  He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which is translated Christ.  Then he brought him to Jesus.”  The goal, then, of the Operation Andrew program is that a priest acts like Andrew in helping a young man to meet Christ. 

          Personally, I am very thankful that a priest also invited me to attend the Operation Andrew dinner so that I could gain some insight into priestly life and ministry.  That experience, among others, helped me say “yes” to God and begin my seminary discernment about a vocation to the priesthood.  If it weren’t for that “Andrew-like” priest and others like him, I might not be here today.  I am very thankful that they brought me to the Lord, so that I could say “yes” to this beautiful vocation to the priesthood. 

          Sometimes it’s the invitation that makes all the difference.  Think about it.  You probably know a few “Andrews” in your own life.  These are the people who, because they introduced you to someone or something, have made a positive impact on your life.  You would not be who you are today if it were not for them having introduced you to this person or thing that made such a difference.  It’s probably pretty rewarding for them to know how much they impacted your life.  Now consider how rewarding it’d be for you if you did the same for someone else.  And the good news is you can!

          In fact, it’s what Jesus told us to do.  At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18b-20).  As members of His Church, Jesus gives us that as our mission in the world. 

          As disciples of Christ the Lord, we’ve been called to go out into the world and make more disciples.  And although we don’t always live it very well, we are a missionary Church.  That means that we’re called to go out and help bring other people to Christ, just as Andrew brought his brother Simon to Christ.  We must not shrink away from such a mission in fear!  And why not?  Because we want people to be saved, to come to the knowledge and love of God, and ultimately, to enter the joy of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!  God wills that all people be saved, but He wants to use us to reach out to them.

          This is sometimes a tough pill to swallow, especially for us as Catholics.  Here in America, we have been socialized to think that religion is a private matter.  You know the two things we’re told not to talk about with others: politics and religion.  But actually, politics and religion (and religion especially!) are among the most necessary things to talk about. 

          In some sense, yes, religion is a private matter.  And no one should ever be forced to believe in something or to belong to a certain religion against their will; that’s clearly contrary to the spirit of the Gospel.  But I think we need to get over this tendency to think of religion as a private matter insofar as we’re told it shouldn’t be talked about.  It should be talked about and shared.  There’s a great quote I noticed recently on the bottom of an e-mail; it said, “Keep the faith, but don’t keep it to yourself.”  What a great motto!  Our Christian faith (and the message of our Christian faith) is meant to be shared, to be given away and proclaimed joyfully to others, so that others around us might also experience the joy of knowing Christ.

          So what does that mean in practice?  Well, it means reaching out to people around you who are fallen-away Catholics and inviting them to join you for Sunday Mass; it means not being afraid to talk about your faith with people who ask you why you’re Catholic.  It means sharing your faith with your children and friends and family; it means living according to the spirit of the Gospel and being loving and forgiving toward others (especially the difficult people around you). 

          It means witnessing to your friends when they engage in gossip that’s malicious and hurtful; it means helping your children to make faith a priority by coming to Mass on Sunday morning instead of going to the soccer game.  It means standing up for what’s true and right in matters of faith and morals; it means witnessing to friends about how certain behaviors might not be the best for them, for instance,  when they drink too much or want to live together before marriage.  And it means acting like a Christian....like Christ….to others who so urgently need to hear the good news of the Gospel.

          “Keep the faith, but don’t keep it to yourself!”  St. Andrew the Apostle gives us such a good example of this in the Gospel.  Dear friends, there are many people in today’s world who are desperately looking for Jesus the Messiah, for fulfillment, peace, and hope.  If we have found Him….and we have found Him….here in this Mass….here in the Eucharist….we should reach out to others who are still searching for him (and who maybe don’t even know they’re searching for Him) and bring them to Jesus.  They’d be so grateful to us, just as I’m so grateful to those priests who reached out to me and invited me to consider a vocation to the priesthood.  What a beautiful gift we could give to others if they came to faith in Christ because of our invitation, because of our witness!

          Dear friends, it is our destiny….indeed, it is our mission….to be like Andrew to the people around us.  God is calling us to make a difference in the lives of others by introducing them and bringing them to Christ!  So many lives could be changed if we reached out to those around us.  Through our efforts as Christians, so many people around us could find faith in place of disbelief, hope in place of despair, and love in place of selfishness….all because of an encounter with Christ.  And all we have to do is bring them to Jesus.                                                                 

               

Welcome to the "Intentionally Catholic" blog!

Welcome to the "Intentionally Catholic" blog started by me, Fr. Noah J. Diehm, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.  I hope to use the blog periodically to do a number of things, with the primary goal being the proclamation of the Gospel! 


As for what this blog will be used for, I will probably discuss some news items of interest, pass along some passages from Sacred Scripture for our reflection (along with some commentary from yours truly), post some favorite quotes, share a homily I've recently preached, or do any number of other things, all of which will hopefully have a salutary effect on you, a reader of this blog.


I welcome comments, questions, and feedback in general.  The whole point, as revealed by how I've entitled the blog, is that we become "Intentionally Catholic"....Catholic in thought, word, and deed.....people whose faith is integrated into our daily lives.  That's the goal. 


Our faith is not a cafeteria line; we ought not pick and choose what we like and don't like.  Rather, if we're going to profess the name "Catholic," let's be FULLY Catholic.....all the way......to the max......with no regrets.  That's the kind of radical Christian living that can change the world and the lives of the people around us.  It's basically living life to the full, as the Lord would have us do, for His glory and the salvation of souls.  If you're up for that kind of living, then, by all means, join me for the ride ;)  Saddle up, partner.....God's going to take us places!


God love you!
Fr. Diehm