Once again we enter into Ordinary Time, the ordered time of
the Church year in which we are called follow Christ, allowing him to change
us, transform us, and perfect us. The same Lord who spoke to Peter, Andrew, James,
and John on the sea of Galilee speaks to us, today, saying “Come after me, and
I will make you fishers of men”
This call to leave the comfortable habits we have formed, in
order to follow him more closely, is in contrast to the spiritual inertia which
can so easily set in. Doesn’t each of us
have the tendency to become complacent in the spiritual life?
Thomas Aquinas spoke of a sadness that comes from our
unwillingness to tackle the difficulties involved in attaining our greatest
good; he called it acedia—a sort of depression that sets in when we aren’t
attending to our spiritual lives as we should.
Imagine the excitement Peter, James, Andrew, and John
experienced when the Lord said, “Come after me. I will make you fishers of men.”
God was doing something new in their lives, he was giving them a new vocation,
and would bring about new spiritual joys of following him in this new way. Similarly, the Lord calls us to something
new, during this new liturgical season.
It may be a new spiritual devotion, a new way of service, a
new way of offering up our sufferings.
But even in these short weeks before the season of Lent begins, the Lord
wants to stretch us, change us, transform us, and fill us with the new wine of
the spirit.
If there is a certain joylessness in your life right now, or
a sadness you can’t explain; or perhaps you know that you should be engaging in
a new spiritual practice, “this is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and
believe in the Gospel.” The greek word St. Mark uses for the word repent, is of
course, metanoia. Metanoia, change your
mind, change your heart, change your thinking, change your attitude, by following
the Lord more deeply in some new area of your life.
Don’t make the excuses, “I’m too old, too
sick; I already give the Lord so much, what else could he possibly want from me”.
Often, it’s from our excuses where our spiritual sadnesses come from. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover how
to follow Christ more deeply today, that he may make you fishers of men for the
glory of God and salvation of souls.
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