As we heard, Jesus invited four fishermen to follow him. “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” So Peter, Andrew, James and John left everything behind and did just that. This was the beginning of our Church.
I am not much of a fisherman. However, I vividly recall the movie, The Old Man and the Sea, in which Spencer Tracy played the role of an aging fisherman who struggles in the hot sun to haul in the great marlin he had caught. Too big to pull on board, he lashes the fish to the side of his skiff. As he rows back to shore, the old man struggles to fend off sharks biting at his catch. By the time he reaches shore, all that is left of the marlin is its backbone. The old man beaches his boat, shoulders the mast and slowly walks to his shack, muttering, “Man can be destroyed, but not defeated.”
That scene describes the spirit of the four fishermen who left their nets behind to follow Jesus. Like the old man, they were good men, down to earth, and not easily discouraged. They were often challenged, but never defeated.
Jesus began his ministry in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali for good reason. These territories were the furthest from Jerusalem. Many Gentiles lived in the area and the influence of their irreligious ways had significantly impacted these once faithful Jews. Isaiah described them as people living in darkness because they had grown distant from God. The people of Zebulun and Naphtali allowed the values of their Gentile neighbors to have a greater influence on them than the teachings of their own faith. Is Isaiah describing us?
He very well could be. Values derived from biblical morals that shaped our culture in the past are not so prevalent in this time and place. Like the people of Zebulun and Naphtali, are we replacing the values of our faith with those of our irreligious secular society? When we abandon the values, practices, and teachings of our Catholic faith, we risk finding ourselves walking in darkness instead of building the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus began his public ministry in the most unchurched region of ancient Israel proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Keep in mind that God’s kingdom is neither an earthly realm nor a distant place. The kingdom of heaven is made present by our response to Jesus. It emerges with our willingness to follow Jesus, turning from the darkness of sin to walk in his light.
Our world has yet to realize the kingdom of heaven and we won’t until we follow Jesus’ advice and repent, that is, change our ways. His plea comes with an urgency that is overlooked by many yet Jesus presents a life or death situation that should prompt us to reassess our values.
We might think that we don’t need to repent but if any of the choices we make or values we hold dear are unchristian, then we are not building the kingdom of heaven. Doing whatever we can to get whatever we want at the expense of someone else results in sin, not a better world. When we sin, the light of Christ dims and if we grow nonchalant about our sinfulness, we risk finding ourselves in the dark.
Our catechism lists seven capital sins. Do you know them? They are pride, envy, anger, lust, sloth, avarice (greed), and gluttony. So long as we allow these inclinations to shape who we are, we hinder our ability to build the kingdom of heaven in our midst. Virtues, such as generosity, gentleness, purity of heart, poverty of spirit, temperance, and fortitude help us to resist or overcome those capital sins.
We all want a life of peace, kindness, compassion and love. That is the kingdom of heaven on earth. We wish harmony existed among all peoples and that trust and tolerance were universally evident but the headlines tell us otherwise. We yearn for a time when there will be no more war or injustice, when civil strife will be history. We long for the kingdom that Jesus promises but instead of repenting, we are tempted to do things that are contrary to the values of our faith.
Recently Pope Francis cautioned political world leaders, “To trample upon the dignity of another person is in fact to weaken one’s self worth. Truly integral human development can only flourish when all members of the human family are included in, and contribute to pursuing the common good.”
If we care about the common good and really want to bring about the kingdom of heaven, then we must follow the example of the four fishermen. Like them, we are called to be “fishers of men,” for what we do can very well be a lifesaver for someone who has drifted away from Christ.
Just as Paul once did, we live in the scandal of a fractured society, not only in the form of many denominations but even within our Church. Such division allows evil forces to rule the present time but they cannot rule our lives when we strive to live the gospel message, which is to love, teach, pray and serve.
Like moths drawn to a light, we are drawn to the light of Christ. As his followers, we are asked to do our share in resisting the evils that terrorize our world. Hopefully what we say and do proclaims to others that God is indeed active among us. When we strive to live our faith, the evil one will never defeat us in our effort to build the kingdom of heaven for the light of Christ will never leave us in the dark.