Mk 1:14-20
14After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 15“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
16As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. 17Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18Then they left their nets and followed him. 19He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. 20Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
I will make you fishers of men: I read a different translation of this verse which I felt was more frightening and truer. “I will make you fish for men.” It may be easy to fish for men. We can talk to people, encourage them, challenge them, convince them, move them, and hold them. Then we capture and fish them.
But the real challenge, I believe, is to be fish for men. To let ourselves be eaten. To offer our selves and all we have until nothing is left of us because we have been consumed alive and fully by people who need us. To be fish for the hungry, to be peace for the troubled, to be joy for the lonely, to be strength for the weak, to be voice for the poor… even when we ourselves sometimes need “fish” to carry us through.
Like a candle that burns, like water that disappears in a thirsty body, like a pencil that is used to write, we find our calling in being fish for others.