Today in our Gospel Jesus begins his ministry of preaching about the kingdom, and he starts recruiting helpers, his apostles. … he saw two brothers … Peter and his brother Andrew … He said to them, Come after me …. At once they left their nets and followed him … He … saw two other brothers, James … and his brother John. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him (Matt 4:19-22). Sometimes spiritual writers urge us to ask ourselves if our own response to God’s call is immediate and spontaneous, like theirs. It is kind of miraculous how these four men walk away from their ordinary fishermen lives instantly. Indeed, the call of God in a person’s heart and soul can change that person in almost miraculous ways.
However, there is another take about the response of these men to Jesus. The writer Matthew is still introducing his readers to Jesus, introducing him as more than a traveling rabbi. He is presenting Jesus as compelling, with a new preaching about something called the Kingdom of Heaven. His person and his message have power — this beloved Son of God, this Lamb of God, this one who is greater than the Baptist. The instantaneous response of these disciples makes Matthew’s point about Jesus! However, as his Gospel continues, Matthew presents other information about these first followers of Jesus. Jesus refers to them as people of “little faith” (6:30, 8:26, etc.), who are slow to understand his teaching (16:12, 17:9-13, 20:20). In other places, he shows them filled with doubt and fear. Sound like us?
In fact, Matthew portrays Jesus’ apostles as needing to grow in their faith and commitment over time and sometimes failing. These same four apostles and their other apostle companions are not to be found at the foot of Jesus’ cross! Discipleship may begin with a wave of enthusiastic commitment, but in fact it is a lifelong journey. The journey will be one of fits and starts as we persist in doing our best to follow the Lord. We are only human. And as the old Gospel song says, “If I fall, I know He’ll understand.”
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
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