The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
When Catholics find out that I am a seminarian, there are a variety of conversations that take place. One of the most common discussions involves the vocations crisis in the Church. “What can we do to get more seminarians, more priests, more religious brothers and sisters?” I have plenty of opinions on possible solutions, but I think there is one solution that rises above the others: Holiness. Our Church has a holiness crisis these days, and this problem will be solved by Catholics like you and me.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells Peter and Andrew, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It continues, “At once they left their nets and followed him.” Again with James and John, the Gospel tells us, “immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.”
I wonder if we are following Jesus as radically as these four apostles did. These men did not know what was in store for them. They left their boats, their jobs, even their families. They left the world and any known security. In this one act of faith, they understood that Jesus would provide all.
I know that I am oftentimes guilty of trying to follow Jesus while staying in my boat. I want to try Christianity without giving up the world, without giving up my will. And this can be in the very little things. I must confess that the first thing I do in the mornings is check my phone. In this one act, I am doing the worldly thing. My life doesn't look very different from someone who hasn’t chosen to follow Jesus. We are called to live differently; we are called to give that very first moment to God. We cannot live our Catholic faith from the boat. We must give Jesus our entire lives, so that he can make us holy. It is this holiness that will usher healing into our Church and the world.
Christopher Meyer is a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He likes sports, and he loves Jesus and the Church. For a strange combination of sports and theology, you can find him on Twitter.