Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Peter and Andrew were in the midst of their daily work when the Lord invited them to come and follow Him. As we likely know, Peter and Andrew were fishermen, and their method of fishing is much different than what we are familiar with. They were not kicking back on a boat with a rod and a reel. Rather, they used large, heavy, and weighted nets that would sink to the bottom of the sea. Once the nets had been in the water for a long period of time, the men would then use their physical strength to pull them up along with any fish that were trapped inside. As you can imagine, this was a very laborious act that involved great physical strength, but not a lot of intellectual acuity. Peter and Andrew were likely not the most educated men.

At the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus mentions His desire to preach to the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali. Capernaum, the home town of Peter and Andrew, was considered a part of these ancient regions. In the 8th century B.C., the Israelites within these regions were the first to be conquered by the Assyrians and the first to experience exile. The most intellectually gifted and the most skilled Israelites from this region were taken to be servants in foreign lands. The Jewish people who remained were mostly peasants. Following Assyrian capture, Capernaum became a blue collar town with a lot of simple, hard-working people.

Yet, although Peter and Andrew were simple, hard-working fisherman, Jesus found them to be the exact people He wanted as His disciples. The manner of the Lord’s calling of Peter and Andrew was not typical according to rabbinic tradition and custom. In ancient Israel, Rabbis didn’t search for students, students searched for rabbis. The rabbis discerned which of these students were capable of learning their teachings, and which were the most gifted in being persuasive in passing these teachings on to others. The student did the initial discernment, and the master did the follow-up. 

Yet, it is clear that Jesus is the one doing all the discerning in the Gospel. In the English translation we hear that Jesus “saw” Peter and Andrew while they were fishing. Yet, in the Greek, the word is in the aorist tense, which conveys a snapshot of a repeated or a prolonged action. Thus, in English it would be more precise to say that Jesus “stared at them for a long time” before calling them. Jesus watched them carefully and examined them (discerned them!) before choosing them as His disciples.

His choice of the Apostles is an interesting detail. Jesus didn’t choose the intellectual elite, the people most familiar with the Mosaic law and its interpretations. He didn’t choose the most gifted or unique Jewish individuals. Rather, He chose simple, hard working, blue collar type people to share in His mission of preaching, teaching, and healing.

In addition, the invitation He extended to these Apostles was not the typical rabbinic invitation. Although Jesus instructed them regularly with some of the most powerful sermons in human history, they were not merely invited to be students of Jesus’ teachings or His philosophical view of life. Rather, they were invited to follow Him. Jesus said to them, “Come after ME.” Jesus wasn’t looking for puppets who could memorize everything He said and replay His teachings word-for-word to others. He wanted a personal relationship with His disciples. He wanted companions He could empower. He wanted disciples with whom He could share His life. This shared life with Jesus is what laid the foundation for the Holy Spirit to give the Apostles the skills they needed to preach, teach, and heal.

My brothers and sisters, the Lord desires the same from us. He longs for companions with whom He can share His life and empower with the gift of His Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ does not require a certain IQ or temperament in order to be His disciple. All it takes is an open heart, a willingness to trust in the Lord, and the will to believe that in Him, all things are possible. God does not call the equipped. Rather, He equips those whom He calls.   

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will

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