There is nothing like a winter storm to challenge all of us whose lives are directed by our plans, our calendars, and the clock! While we may like to keep our lives neat, orderly, and on-time, things like ice and snow can pretty unforgivingly throw off our plans and schedules. Isn’t it much the same when we consider God’s plans, God’s work, and God’s invitation to follow His way?
Fittingly, the Church offers us “the call” of the first disciples (the Apostles) at this Sunday’s Mass (Mark 1, 14-20). Sts. Peter, Andrew, James, and John could have been so busy and so focused on their fishing that they would’ve let Jesus walk on by Himself. We would never have known their names … and yet, they built a Church that now covers the earth. Perhaps St. Mark relates their “calling” in order to tell us what it takes to be a follower, a disciple, of Jesus: we have to be flexible, we have to be able to risk the unknown, and we have to be open to making changes. Simply put, we can’t fool ourselves into thinking or believing that we are in control of everything, that our schedules have to rule the day, or even that our plans are the right plans.
We rejoice that Jesus called His first followers and that they responded in faith and with trust. But He has not stopped calling. Each day, He awaits our answer. However, if we think we have to have everything under control before answering, we may very will miss out on what He has in store for us. We cannot, for all our planning, foresee the whole future ahead, no matter how furiously we squint! Let us continue to pray for the grace we need to respond in faith and with trust.
