I'm back for my final semester here at Ithaca College and at the Ithaca College Catholic Community. So, I hope you enjoy these last few months of blogs, I'll do my best to keep them insightful and interesting...here it goes....
Imagine yourself in the prime of your career, really bringing home the bacon. Put yourself in the position of a teacher, and as you mold young minds, you see a man with a beard outside the classroom door...he beckons you to speak with him outside. He says, "Come with me, I'll make you a fisher of men."
Now, this is what I would be thinking...How did this person get into the building...the only thing I've ever fished for is fish...and how would the man expect me to leave my class in the middle of an important math lesson?
Yet, in this week's Gospel, Jesus is that man in the hallway. He calls out to Simon and Andrew while they were fishing and they respond by dropping their nets and going with Him. That's an extraordinary act of faith. I know it was a different time, with different priorities and needs in everyday life, but we can still learn something from this story.
It's another example of taking time out to recognize why we are here on earth. While we can't put our job and income last on our list of priorities, we can still rearrange some of the stuff that we "care" so much about in our daily lives. Schedules seem so jam packed all the time, but if we make it a priority, there is time for God to come through in our lives, after all, shouldn't He be our number one priority?
But there's many ways to do that. Fifteen or even just five minutes will not ruin your job, career, family, or life in general. Saying a prayer is usually a good way to clean up your day, but how about something else too. Make it an unplanned five minutes, and maybe randomly say hello to someone at a gas pump. What's more awkward anyways, standing there pretending to be invisible, or having a simple conversation about the cold weather with a total stranger? You might learn a little something not only about them, but about yourself as well. That's what God wants us to do, and that's probably what Jesus would do. By bringing those people into our lives, He is calling us away from our box for a little bit, from our rigid routines.
Catching fish is all about patience, which is vital for everyday life. By having the patience to take time out to follow God during out daily life, we'll be able to actually see the waters clear, and see the people underneath the sometimes harsh exteriors...like Jesus says, we can become "fishers of men."
It's an interesting thought, but for now, I'm going to take my tackle box and see what I can catch, maybe I'll even find a friend or two along the way.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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