THE DECISION TO BE A DISCIPLE

Read John 21:1-19

Some people fish for fun, others for nourishment, and some for both. People read for the same reasons. What do you do?

If we really believe that only constant interaction with Jesus can save our lives on earth from going flat, we need to look at how nourishing our interaction with him really is. What is the last new insight into life you got from thinking about his words? His example? How many new ideals have you embraced in the past year? What new goals have you set for yourself because you were inspired by something Jesus said or did? By something he said to you? Or did for you? Do you experience him as an exciting influence in your life?

Before Jesus filled the nets for Peter and his companions, they had to work. Everything began when Peter said, "I am going fishing," and the others said, "We will go with you." If we want Jesus to fill our lives with inspiration and excitement, new goals and experiences, we have to "go fishing" in his words, in the Scripture, in the lives of the Christian witnesses through whom he has expressed himself in every time and culture as he is today in ours. Jesus isn’t going to fill our nets unless we spread them. We start being his disciples when we decide to put some time and energy into it.

This story in the Gospels shows us four things we need to do to be disciples. First, we have to "go fishing"; that is, go to religious formation sessions, Bible studies, retreats, discussion groups. We have to take time from something else (priorities are called into question here) and give it to spiritual formation, to reading Scripture and other books, to reflection and prayer.

Secondly, we have to cast the net "to the right side of the boat." We have to fish in the right place. In St. Luke’s version of this story (5:1-11) Jesus tells Peter to "put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." The right place to go for discipleship is the place that increases our knowledge, deepens our understanding, challenges us to make decisions and to act. There are many devotional practices in the Church which do not do this. They are good; they give us encouragement; they provide us with a structure for presenting our needs and petitions to God, but we should not confuse them with discipleship. To be disciples we need to "put out into the deep water."

And we have to keep at it. The disciples fished all night before Jesus came to them. In Luke Peter says, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so ["on the strength of your word" Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1968, 44:58], I will let down the nets." Sometimes our reading or someone’s input to us is immediately rewarding. But we have to keep fishing whether it is or not, to persevere by faith and with hope based on faith: on the strength of Christ’s promises to open his mind and heart to us. He will fill our nets, but he will choose the time. We have to keep fishing.

What helps us keep at it is community. Very few children learn by themselves; we send them to school, where they will learn with others. Both to start and to persevere as disciples of Jesus most of us need the support of other persons. Someone has to take the initiative: it was Peter who started things off by saying, "I am going fishing." But nothing would have happened if the others had not decided, "We will go with you." In a parish the invitation to "go fishing" in the word of God may come from the pastor and staff; or it may come from the initiative of some member who decides to start a home study group. But no Bible study, discussion group, retreat or formation program can be launched or stay afloat unless other people decide to participate.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to lead a life characterized by reflection on his message.