11/01. Monday of week 1( Year II)

1.1Samuel 1:1-8

2.Gospel:Mark1:14-20

"Jesus begins His mission and calls His first disciples"

I can still remember when I made my first application to join seminary life and religious life simply because I wanted to be a religious and missionary priest as I am today. I underwent a process and passed through several steps like: taking entrance exams, preliminary interviews, letter of application, recommendation from parish priest and others. When I was accepted I stayed in the seminary for several years of intensive seminary formation which includes: taking one year which in our congregation of the passion of Christ is known as ' year of aspirant', then taking up the other stage of formation that is three- year philosophical studies, one year of novitiate, four-year theological studies, and one year pastoral formation, exposures where I was exposed to the harsh realities of life like immersing myself to the life situation of people especially in remote areas where evangelization is not yet active. This was to test if  I am physically, mentally, psychologically and morally capable. After I Successfully passed these processes then with the grace of God I was eligible to be admitted into the ministries of Holy order.

In our today's gospel the disciples of Jesus do not undergo such kind of processes when they are called by Him. In our gospel reading, Andrew and Simon are simply casting their nets in the  lake while James and John are putting their nets in order when Jesus calls them, ' Come, follow me, I will you fishers of men.' Immediately they leave everything in the boat and follows Jesus. That instant, willing and ready! They have their seminary formation with Jesus for only three years or less.

This gospel passage about the calling of the first disciples gives us three things to reflect upon our own vocations as Christians: First, Jesus calls us in the normal activities of our day. Jesus calls ordinary men and women to perform the extra-ordinary. Jesus ' saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen.' They are working  and fulfilling their daily routine and Christ enters their lives unexpectedly and calls them to be His apostles. They answered Yes and left whatever they were doing to follow Him, this was simply because they had faith in Him and trusted Him. We hear Christ's call more clearly and seek to please Him in our daily activities by being prayerful.

Second, Jesus' call is urgent. He says: " This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." Jesus' words transmit a sense of necessity and demand to follow Him. Simon and Andrew sense the importance of this special moment in their lives, Kairo, consequently for them they did not have time to rationalize and compromise about their pre-occupations immediately they followed Jesus.

Third, Following Jesus often means changing some aspects of our lives. He calls us to repent from our old habits, ways of thinking and ways of living in order to fully believe in and live according to His Word. If we are going to be truly alive, in accord with the demands of God's word, we must be in a constant mode of conversion which is, leaving the old self in the past and living according to the new self in Christ at present.

We are all invited to be life giving people, as we can see in today's gospel, the meeting that Peter, Andrew, James, and John had with Jesus was such a life-giving moment  for those four fishermen, the life giving power of God was present to them in the person of Jesus. That power of God present in Jesus was the power of forgiveness, healing, acceptance, a love that gave them a mission in life. This kind of encounter that the first disciples had with Jesus is also offered to each one of us. Let's understand that Jesus is not the figure of history, however we still encounter Him event today through the sacraments, He is the living Lord, still present in the Church and in the World, calling out to us and meeting with us in the course of our day today lives,