Vocation.
I like to think of it as the Lord’s tango.
It is alluring, mysterious, inviting, surprising, up-ending.
When the Lord calls, He does so in ways so creative, so intimate, so personal, that like a rose unfolding, the heart opens with a delicate receptivity and anything becomes possible.
In today’s Gospel, people are pressing in on Jesus, attracted to His message, curious, wanting more. Simon the fisherman is busy going about his life’s work, tending to his nets, thinking about his livelihood, and at the same time with one ear open to this mysterious prophet. Jesus finds a way to Simon’s heart by asking him to let him use his boat.
Simon welcomes Jesus. The dance continues.
Jesus invites Simon to sail out into the deep. Simon, tired and exhausted after an unsuccessful night of fishing pauses, but is willing to be inconvenienced, moved by the tenacity of his guest.
He trusts. He moves. He receives abundance, a net breaking with a catch so full that it fills two boats. He stays in the dance, falling to his knees, unworthy of so great a Master. Simon discovers the call is bigger than himself, a call to be and to do for others, for the Kingdom.
“I will make you fishers of men.” The Lord grasps his hand, and the dance continues. How does the Lord of the Dance call out to you today? Will you follow?
Sr. Michele Vincent Fisher, CSFN
