In this story, Jesus calls on Simon Peter and the other disciples to "catch people." The Greek word for catching "zogron" means "to catch alive". The people that Simon Peter and the disciples catch will be alive in God. Jesus calls the disciples to a new life. They "left everything" and followed him. Discipleship is a powerful, compelling invitation to a new life: a call away from routine, away from frustration, to a new
purpose.
Jesus invited them to be fishers of people, engaged in the struggle with the raging waters of a different sea. The sea was the source of their livelihood and food, but the sea is also a mystery, at times threatening and chaotic. The sea could take their lives as well as feed them. So this new calling for them would be different, challenging, mysterious, threatening, but it would also be life-giving, rewarding, and of course, following God's
instruction.
Maybe that is the invitation for us: to ask ourselves, now, today, in what way is Jesus calling me now?
What challenges lie before me at this time of my life and in my journey of faith? What is the source for me now?
What is a mystery for me at this moment?
What might be the chaos or the threat?
Put in another way: What is the weather like, at this time, in my own journey of life and faith? Where is Jesus for me now?
