12 Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee,
13 and leaving Nazara he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
14 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
15 Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations!
16 The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned.
17 From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'
18 As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.'
20 And at once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.
22 And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.
23 He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people.
In today's gospel, we find Jesus filling out his team, and doing so quite adeptly. Can you imagine being tapped for this by the Lord? Moreover, can you imagine just dropping everything for someone you don't know, whom you just met, and leaving everything?
That's sacrifice for faith.
While few are called like Simon, Andrew, James or John, God does call us. The ask might be a whisper, or it might be a shout, but ask of us He does.
How do we answer? Do we do so only when it's convenient for us? Do we ignore and pretend we don't hear?
We don't have nets to leave, but we all have other baggage. Baggage that would serve us well if we dropped it. Baggage that needs to be dropped in order to answer.
Like the apostles, what we drop and how we answer isn't a sacrifice, it's an opportunity.
The ask is there. How will we respond?
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