This weekend’s Gospel has my favorite
passage and is the scariest Gospel for me. Imagine that, two extremes in one Gospel.
If you recall, Jesus is walking along the shores of Galilee and he sees
two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew.
Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” I love this gospel passage. As stated, it is my favorite passage. I cannot imagine how these brothers felt,
leaving their father, their livelihood, and their families behind, to follow
Jesus, and share the Good News to complete strangers.
I love this passage because it
challenges me to go WAY outside my comfort zone. While I like the idea of becoming a “fisher
of men,” and leading and teaching people the Truth, the Light, and the Way,
something about this screams EVANGELIZATION, which is definitely not something
that I am often comfortable with.
In today’s world, being a Christian can
be hard. It is so much easier for me to
sit back and know that I have Jesus in my heart and keep it to myself. I say this because I do not want to get into
a confrontation. I often say something
along the line of “so long as they believe, it is okay with me.” Instead of standing up and evangelizing about
my beliefs, the way of Christ. Maybe it
is because, in today’s society, different beliefs can become polarizing very
quickly.
So, how do I overcome my fear of
Evangelizing to others? Until I really
thought about it, I evangelize more than I really knew. I am lucky to have the medium of this weekly
note to share with all of you my thoughts and beliefs. I usually copy this into my blog, which has a
small but faithful following. Every time
I meet a potential new family, I am lucky enough to share all the wonderful
things our school does from academics to faith.
I get to be an example to my wife and children, in words, deeds, and
actions, as we share our faith journey.
So when I truly think about it, I evangelize more than I thought, but I
still have work to do.
How do you “make fishers of men?” How do you share your faith with others? Do you stand firm when faith conversations
come up? Do you share your stories about
our school with other families or invite them to be part of our faith community? While I am still afraid to stand on the
street corner and shout at the top of my lungs, the Good News, my
actions/reactions to the concerns of the world might just be an example for others. I challenge you to assess the way you are
already “fishers of men,” and look for ways to go outside your comfort zone and
share the Good News with those in your life.
