The Proclamation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
[18] And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers). [19] And he saith to them: Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. [20] And they immediately leaving their nets, followed him.
[21] And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them. [22] And they forthwith left their nets and father, and followed him.
The Gospel of the LordPraise to you Lord Jesus Christ
MEDITATION: St. Matthew shows us how our Lord Jesus called
His first disciples. Jesus Christ the Word of God called our first Pope, St.
Peter and his brother, St. Andrew who were fishermen and casting their net on
the sea at that time. This is just Christ’s line of command to them, “Come
after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” What a privilege it is! Do you
see how great is this calling where you are not just doing an ordinary work now
but an extraordinary one? Fishing men instead of fishing fishes? It is very exciting to see how our Lord
invited them to be made by Him to become fishers of men and retiring from
fishing fishes in the sea. How definitely exciting it is! St. Peter and St.
Andrew were fishermen, and now they will level-up to become fishers of men! But
of course it is a tough new course for it is a new beginning, and they will
undergo a make-over to become fishers of men. So let us all believe that
disciples of God are not born, they were made. Just like I. In my discernment,
I used the examen prayer popularized by St. Ignatius de Loyola in his Spiritual
Exercises. But what I made is a life examen – starting from the time before I
was born until the day I made the examen. As I looked back on my past, I saw
that there are light days but not so many, and I also saw my dark ages were I
was a bad boy for so many years. It is looking back to your past and you
realize that you have so many wonderful and beautiful yesterdays were I must be
too grateful for God. Doing the life examen is like constructing a jigsaw
puzzle where you arrange those good and bad days of yours and see that your
life is beautiful after you picture and imagine your memory of those years of
your past. In doing this life examen, I just prayerfully realized that God is
really calling me to follow Him and to become a servant of Him alone that’s why
I cannot marry – and will never be. God is indeed calling me from the very
beginning! Yes, disciples are not born, they were made. But I was also made! In
fact, I was made by God before I was born! Now, how happy a man am I! How sweet
to see those calls of God to me. You must look back to see the missed calls
from God for you.
Going back to St. Peter and St. Andrew, we are told that
they were at once left their nets and followed Jesus Christ. We must see that
this is freedom and detachment on their part. The call of God and to follow Him
is another way of life where all of us who were called must respond by changing
our ways, and our ways must be changed by the way that God wants us to take.
Obedience to God’s call and command and following Him leads to real freedom. We
may talk and waste in telling about freedom is one becoming free from every
authority that restrains and enchains our “freedom” and just do whatever we
want. We may criticize the Catholic Church from these “againstments” of Hers
from our freedom to do everything we want to do. But really not so for the Word
of God which is protected by the Church wants us to unfree ourselves from the
chains and restraining of the world that makes us worldly, sinful, and evil.
True freedom may be achieved by detaching ourselves from the world and
following God’s call for us. That’s why I say that to become a Christian is a
very tough way and it will make you to believe that it cannot be achieved or it
is impossible. You can also believe that to become a Christian or a follower of
God or a disciple is to commit suicide and the end of the world for you. Of you
course you have to because you cannot go back to your devilish habits or sinful
and evil lifestyle. Well, let me tell you. I was now freed from worldly
pursuits and now I’m embracing a life of prayer and contemplation. So, what are
you now? Yes of course. We are different to one another and some of us were
single or in a married life. Just do your part on unfreeing and detaching
yourself whatever occupation you are engaged now. Even a wealthy married
business man can be as he is even his wealth and business is not his but to
people who are in need. He must be detached from these things; following Jesus
Christ’s inspirations in disposing this wealth for the common good of all and
for God’s greater glory.
We are told that our Lord Jesus also called St. James and
St. John who were sons of Zebedee and these three were together in a boat where
the two sons were mending their nets. We can reason out that God has another
boat for them to use and this is the Catholic Church who has One Father who is
in heaven. St. James and St. John’s mending of their nets show that catching
men for God is a very hard undertaking for it is a continuous mending of our
nets in order to catch souls for God and to put them aboard in the Catholic
Church. Again, we must immediately follow the Lord by the time He snaps His
call for us. There must be no time to get wasted. All of us Christians of the
Catholic Church must do our part on repairing our nets to catch souls for God.
In our first reading for today (Romans 10:9-18), St. Paul
makes us meditate that our clean heart made pure by the Holy Spirit makes our
calling to God worthy to be heard by God, for everyone who calls God with a
clean heart will be saved. And for everyone who calls to the Lord with a clean
heart sees God for their hearts are not far from God.
Here are some points to consider:
1 We must be pure of heart so that when we call on God, we
will be saved by Him. A person with a mortal sin in his heart is a damned
person for God will reject the words in his mouth for his heart is far from the
Lord. You must understand that, especially to people who are evildoers.
2. All of us have our calling and duties as disciples. Act
as a disciple of the Lord!
3. I pray you understand the first reading. Now, I pray you
know and understand how important the Sacrament of Confession and how grave a
mortal sin is.
4. Ite inflammate omnia! Go and set the world on fire!
“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”
To the greater glory of God!
Mary H. Distributist
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