The beginning and the call of the first apostles
Mark 1:14-20

1. Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,
who make of our fragile life
the rock of Your dwelling,
direct our minds
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush out to quench our thirst.
May our poor feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and open our hearts to hear the echo of the Silence,
so that the dawn,
which enfolds us with the light of a new day,
may lead us
to taste the holy memory,
together with the remnant ashes of the fire of the pastors of the Absolute
who on our behalf have kept watch near the divine Master.

2. Lectio

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He 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. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

3. A moment of silent prayer

so that the voice of the Word may echo in our hearts.

4. Meditatio

Some questions to assist us in our meditation and prayer.

a) The time has come, the Realm is close at hand. Do we believe that we are in Galilee and that the Gospel of God is being preached to us?
b) Jesus walks along. In which sea are we casting our nets?
c) Follow Me…and immediately they followed Him.  Is there urgency in our daily life, or do we go on saying, “Wait a minute”?
d) In their boat they were mending their nets. How many rips are there in our nets? In which boat are we dwelling? Is it our boat or is it that of our roots of the past?
e) He called them: our name is on the lips of our Lord Jesus. Does His voice echo as the voice of one who leads us away from our sea?

5. A key to the reading

for those who wish to go deeper into the text.

This is a literary genre of vocation stories where the condition of life of the person addressed by God is first described, then the call is expressed in symbolic words or actions, and finally comes the abandoning of the activity first described. The call in our text reminds us of the call of Elisha by Elijah (1 Kings 19:19-21) and that of Amos (Am 7:15). The dependence on a typical biblical model does not exclude the substantial historical reality of the Gospel story. The similarity of the calls underscores a clear theological meaning in Mark’s Gospel, which is the missionary practice of the disciples who will be sent in pairs (Mk 6:7). The dynamic of this is in line with the original plan of creation when the Lord, thinking of Adam, said, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate" (Gen 2:18). In their preaching mission, one will witness to the other, as Scripture says, "…the evidence of two or three witnesses is required" (cf Mt 18:16; Dt 19:15).

v.14. Jesus went to Galilee. There He proclaimed the Gospel from God. Jesus’ preaching begins in Galilee and proclaims the Gospel, "the Good News" of God’s initiative towards His people, and the establishment of the Realm. The Apostles’ preaching will go from Galilee to the ends of the earth and will proclaim the Gospel, "the Good News" of the Christ Word, who has conquered death in order to make God’s glory shine.

v.15. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel. The time of waiting (kairòs) is over. The decisive moment has come: God is about to begin His reign. John the Baptist belonged to the time of preparation and completed his mission. He was apprehended and put to silence. Jesus belongs to the time of the establishment of the reign. It is the present that demands from human beings their collaboration by repenting. The coming of the reign points to this place of freedom where whoever listens to the proclamation can come to Christ or turn from it by refusing the good news. A Realm that is close to all and present to all who desire it. Conversion, faith, and following are three aspects of the same thing, which is the call to all to follow Jesus and the Good News.

v.16. As He was walking along by the Lake of Galilee He saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew… The Lake of Galilee is the background for the first phase of Jesus’ ministry: a lake that is surrounded by mountains, 208 meters above sea level, 21 km long and 11 km wide. This body of water, in the shape of a cither, was a source of life because of the abundance of fish in it. On the shore of this lake Jesus chooses a life different from the daily life seen on these shores made up of fishermen, boats, nets and fish. Simon and Andrew are two brothers. The solidarity of this affective bond serves as a basis for the new bond of faith that makes brothers of them beyond the ties of family. Two brothers who bear one name.

v.17. Come after Me and I will make you into fishers of people. This following is determined by a clear order. It is not an invitation; it is a command. The creative Word of God that called the light and the other creatures into being now calls His image to take part in the new creation. This act of following does not come from a mere personal decision, but from a meeting with the Person of Jesus who calls. It is an action of grace which allows these disciples to respond to His call. Jesus calls with divine authority as God called the prophets in the Old Testament. It is not the disciples who choose their master as was the custom with rabbis in those days, but the Master who chooses His disciples as repositories, not of a doctrine or teaching, but of God’s inheritance. The call means abandoning one’s family, profession, a complete change of life in order to adhere to a life that does not allow for personal space. The disciples are men of the Realm. The call to become disciples of Jesus is an "eschatological call".

v.18. At once they left their nets and followed Him. The response is immediate. A response that tears even the strongest ties. The verb used to indicate the following is akolouthèin, a biblical term to indicate the action of a servant who goes with his master to render him a service. It is a material following, a literal "going after". When it refers to the disciples, it expresses full participation in the life of Jesus and His cause.

v.19. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John.  He called them. The verb to call, kalein, is another term typical of following. There is an added element compared to the call of the first two: the figure of the father and of the workers. The father also has a name. The fact that he is deprived of his two sons gives him a unique dignity. He remains alone with the workers who will take the place of the sons. The solitude of those left behind is never a senseless solitude.

Reflection: John had been apprehended and Jesus walks in Galilee: two paths at the service of the one Lord. The time has come. That time that humankind cannot seize and possess is fulfilled and demands a change of direction. The time for a sea and nets to fish elsewhere. Men and women are called so that nothing of who they are may be lost. Their identity remains, what changes is only the object of their actions. No more fish, but men. No more relationship with inferior creatures, but a relationship of equality with creatures of equal dignity. New nets to be mended, the nets of a demanding kind of fishing: they are the nets of preaching that will be cast into the hearts of people during the night of pain and lack of feeling. The words "Follow Me", like a key, opens up new horizons. One does not embark on this venture alone. Bonds are not broken. The brothers become more so. They still share the bitter experience of earning a living, but now they arenot seeking for themselves but giving to others. The sea, symbol of everything that cannot be controlled, is there with the familiar and calm movement of the waters that break on the shore and say, “Go.”  Jesus, a man among so many, is the God who approaches the shores of the sea, a God who walks into the life of human beings, a God who sees with human eyes, a God who speaks with new authority, saying “Follow Me.” And those men who were fishermen at once left and followed Him. They leave for another sea, the sea of firm land, the sea of villages, the sea of the temple, the sea of the streets. They leave at the call of a gaze that beckons, a gaze capable of convincing them to leave everything, not just their boats, the sea, the nets, but even their father, their history, their affections, to the very origin of their being. Friends who at night entrusted themselves to the waves of the Sea of Galilee, leave their zone of safety for far away seas. It is an old friendship that leaves not knowing for where, but with hearts bearing the warmth of a voice and a look: “Follow Me.”

6. Oratio – Psalm 86 (85)

All the nations You have made shall come
to bow before You, Lord,
and give honor to Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
and You alone are God. Teach me, Lord, Your way
that I may walk in Your truth,
single-hearted and revering Your name.

I will praise You with all my heart,
glorify Your name forever, Lord my God.

7. Contemplatio

Lord, my expectations are fulfilled in Your temple. You, the Living One, who continue to go to the shores of human life, that like a lake in the shape of a cither silently marks the scanning of its hours, pass and see, call… I shall know You when You call me by name and I shall follow You like a wayfarer who picks up his walking stick to go to paths of friendship and of meeting, where the heart crosses into the Absolute of God, to be a living flame in the darkness of human desire, a warmth that spreads where the cold wind of evil destroys and diverts from the horizons of truth and beauty. I know that without You I shall catch nothing in the night of my solitude and delusion. My nets will rip when You tear me away from the bitter waters of my exertions and You will give me to myself, transformed with pardon, received and given with full hands. I shall then proclaim Your name to my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Come and you will see
The call of the first Disciples
John 1:35-42

1. Opening prayer

Good Shepherd, my Father, today You also come down from the eternal mountains and bring with You Your flock and lead it towards green pastures, of fresh grass, of good water. Today You send ahead of You Your dearest or favorite lamb, the Lamb whom You love with an incommensurable love; You give us Your Son Jesus, the Messiah. Behold, He is here! I beg You, help me to recognize Him, to fix my gaze on Him, my desire, my expectation. Make me follow Him, that I do not separate myself from Him, that I enter His house and remain there always. His house, oh Father, are You, yourself. I want to enter in You, I want to live. May the breath of Your Holy Spirit attract me, support me and unite me in love to You and to Your Son, my Lord, today and forever and ever. Amen.

2. Reading

a) To place this passage in its context:

This passage introduces us to the beginning of the evangelical account of John, clearly showing the succession of one day after another in of a whole week. Here we are already on the third day since John the Baptist began to give his witness of Jesus with the invitation to the disciples to follow the Lord, the Lamb of God. The ministry of Jesus begins during these days, with the Word of the Father who descends in the midst of men to meet them and to speak with them and dwell among them.
This place is Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John baptized. Here the encounter with the Word of God takes place and the new life begins.

b) To help in the reading of the passage:

vv. 35-36: John the Baptist lives a very strong experience of encounter with Jesus, in fact it is precisely here, on the third day, that he recognizes Him fully, that he proclaims Him with his whole strength and shows Him as the true way to follow, as the life to be lived. Here John diminishes himself to the point of disappearing and grows as witness to the light.

vv. 37-39: Having accepted the witness of their master, the disciples of John begin to follow Jesus. After having listened to His voice, they meet the Word and allow themselves to be challenged by it. Jesus looks at them, He knows them and begins His dialogue with them. He takes them with Him, introduces them to the place of His dwelling, and makes them remain with Him. The Evangelist indicates the exact hour of this face to face encounter between Jesus and the first disciples.

vv. 40-42: Immediately, the witness flares up and spreads; Andrew cannot keep silent about what he has seen and heard, what he has experienced and lived, and immediately becomes a missionary, calling his brother Peter to come to encounter Jesus. He, fixing His look on that man, calls him and transforms his life: he was Simon, now he becomes Peter.

c) Text:

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" — which translated means Teacher —, "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come, and you will see." So they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" — which is translated Christ —. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" — which is translated Peter.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

I remain in silence and allow that these simple, but powerful words, envelope me, take possession of my life. I allow Jesus, who is coming, to fix His look on me, I allow Him to ask me, like He asked them: “What are you looking for?” and I allow Him to take me with Him, to His house. Because, yes, I want to dwell near Him...

4. Some questions

Now, I try to listen more attentively to this passage, by taking every word, every verb, being attentive to the movements, and to the looks. I really try to encounter the Lord in this page, allowing myself to be searched and known by Him.

a) “The next day John stood there again”.
In these words I feel the insistence of the search. I feel the faith of John the Baptist which grows. The days are going by. The experience of the encounter with Jesus is intensified. John does not give up, does not get tired, but rather, he always becomes more sure, more convinced, and enlightened. I place myself in contrast to John the Baptist: Am I one who is there, who remains, or rather, do I withdraw, get tired, or become weak and allow my faith to die out? Do I stand there, or do I sit down, do I wait or I do not wait anymore?

b) “Fixing his look on Jesus”.
Here is a beautiful verb which signifies “to look intensely”, to penetrate with the look” and this is repeated in verse 42, referring to Jesus, who looks at Peter to change his life. Many times in the Gospels it is said that Jesus fixes His look on His disciples (Mt 19:26), or on a particular person (Mk 10:21). He fixes His look to love, to call, to enlighten. His look never leaves us. I know that I can find peace by exchanging this look. How can I pretend not to see? Why continue to turn my look from here to there, fleeing from the Lord’s love which has been given to me and has chosen me?

c) “They followed Jesus”
This expression referred to the disciples. It does not only mean that they began to walk in the same direction with Christ, but much more: that they consecrated themselves to Him, that they committed their life with Him and for Him. He is the one who takes the initiative. He tells me: “You, follow Me”, like with the rich young man (Mt 19:21) and with Peter (Jn 21:22). How do I respond? Do I have the courage, the love, the ardor, to tell Him: “Master, I will follow You wherever You go!” (Mt 8:19), confirming these words with the facts? Or do I also say, like the one in the Gospel: “I will follow You, but first allow me to....” (Lk 9:61)?

d) “What do you search?”
The Lord Jesus pronounces the first words in John’s Gospel and they are a very concrete question, addressed to the disciples who are following Him and to me personally. The Lord fixes His look on me and asks me: “What are you searching for?” It is not easy to respond to this question. I must go deep into my heart and listen to myself. What am I really searching for? My energy, my desires, my dreams, my investments, to what purpose are they aimed?

e) “They remained with Him”
The disciples remain with Jesus, they begin to live with Him, and to have the house in common with Him. Perhaps, they began to feel and experience that the Lord himself is their new house. The verb which John uses here can simply mean to dwell, to stay, but also to dwell in the intense sense of indwelling one in the other. Jesus indwells in the womb of the Father and also offers to us the possibility of indwelling in Him and in all the Trinity. Today, He offers himself here, to me, to live together this indescribable, splendid experience of love. Therefore, what do I decide? Do I also stop like the disciples and remain with Him and in Him? Or do I leave or withdraw from the love and run to seek something else?

f) “And leads them to Jesus”.
Andrew runs to call his brother Simon, because He wants to share with him the infinite gift which He has received. He announces and proclaims the Messiah, the savior, and has the strength to take his brother with him. He becomes a guide. This is a very important passage. I do not know if I am sufficiently open and enlightened to witness to Him, who reveals Himself to me so clearly. Perhaps I am afraid, I am embarrassed, I do not have the strength, I am lazy, or I am indifferent?

5. A key for the reading

a) The Lamb of God:

In v. 36 John announces Jesus as the Lamb of God, repeating the cry which he had already given the day before: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

The identification of Jesus with the Lamb is overflowing with Biblical references, both from the Old and the New Testament.

The Lamb already is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, in chapter 22, at the moment of the sacrifice of Isaac; God provides a lamb, to be offered as holocaust instead of the son. The lamb descends from heaven and takes upon himself the death of man; the lamb is sacrificed so that the son may live.

In the Book of Exodus, in chapter 12, the Pascal Lamb is offered, a lamb without blemish, perfect; His blood, which will be poured, will save the sons from the exterminator, who goes from house to house, during the night. From that moment, every son of God will remain signed and sealed by that blood of salvation. The way is opened to freedom, the way of exodus, to go to God and to enter into the land promised by Him.

The element of sacrifice, of the slaughter, of the total gift, constantly accompanies the figure of the lamb. The books of Leviticus and Numbers continually place before us this holy presence of the lamb. He is offered every day in the daily holocaust. He is sacrificed in all the sacrifices of expiation, of reparation, of sanctification.

The Prophets also speak about a lamb prepared for the sacrifice: a mute sheep, sheared without opening its mouth, like a tame and meek lamb led to the slaughter (Is 53:7; Jer 11:19). The Lamb sacrificed on the altar every day.

In the Gospel, it is John the Baptist who announces and identifies Jesus as the true Lamb of God, who takes upon himself the sin of man and cancels it by the shedding of His precious and pure blood. In fact, He is the Lamb sacrificed in the place of Isaac. He is the Lamb roasted in the fire on the Pascal night. He is the perennial sacrifice to the Father, offered for us. He is the suffering servant, who does not rebel himself, does not recriminate, but surrenders himself silently out of love for us.

Saint Peter says this openly: “You have been liberated from the futile way of your life thanks to the precious blood of Christ, like the lamb, without blemish and spotless”. (I Pt 1:19).

The Apocalypse reveals openly all things concerning the Lamb. He is the one who can open the seals of history, of the life of every man, of the hidden heart, of truth (Ap 7:1-12; 8:1); He is the one who obtained victory, the one sitting on the throne (Rev 5, 6). He is the king, worthy of honor, praise, glory, adoration (Rev 5:12). He is the spouse who invites us to His wedding banquet (Rev 19:7). He is the lamp (Rev 23), the temple (Rev 21-22), the place of our eternal dwelling. He is the Shepherd (Rev  7:17) whom we shall follow wherever He goes (Rev 14:4).

b) To see:

Expressions concerning seeing are repeated five times. The first one is John, who already has the eye accustomed to see at a depth and recognize the Lord who passes by. He had to render witness to the light and for this reason has the eyes enlightened from within. In fact, near the Jordan River, he sees the Spirit coming down on Jesus (Mt 3:16); he recognizes Him as the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29) and continued to fix His look (v. 36) on Him to indicate Him to His disciples. If John sees in this way, if he is capable of penetrating beyond appearances, it means that he had already been joined by the loving look of Jesus. He had been enlightened before in the same way we are.  In v. 38 it is said that Jesus sees the disciples who follow Him and the Evangelist uses a very beautiful verb, which means “to fix the look on someone, to look penetratingly and intensely”. The Lord truly does this with us. He turns towards us, gets close to us, takes to heart our presence, our life, our path following Him, and looks at us, for a long time, above all, with love, intensely involving himself. His look never leaves us alone. His eyes are fixed within us. They are designed within us as Saint John of the Cross sings in his Spiritual Canticle.

And then the Lord invites us, in turn, to open the eyes, to begin to see in a true way. He says: “Come and see”. Every day He repeats this to us without getting tired of addressing this tender and strong invitation, overflowing with promises and with gifts. “They saw where He was dwelling” John points out, using a different verb which indicates seeing profoundly, which goes beyond superficiality. It enters in understanding, knowledge, and in the faith of what one sees. The disciples – and we with them – saw that afternoon where Jesus dwelt. They understood and knew that His true dwelling place is not a place or a space.

Lastly, we have the same verb as in the beginning. Jesus fixes His look on Simon (v. 42) and with that light, with that encounter of eyes, of souls, He calls him by name and changes his life and makes him a new man. The eyes of the Lord are also open in this same way on us and they wash us from the ugliness of our darkness, enlightening us with love. With those eyes He is calling us, making a new creation of us. He is saying: “May there be light”, and there was light.

c) To remain – to dwell

This is another very important verb, very strong, and another precious pearl of the Gospel of John. It is repeated three times, with two different meanings: to dwell and to remain. The disciples immediately ask Jesus where He dwells, where is His house, and He invites them to go, to enter, and to remain: “They remained with Him that day” (v. 39). It is not a physical, temporary remaining. The disciples are not only guests passing by who will leave soon. No, the Lord makes space for us in His interior place, in His relationship with the Father, and there He accepts us for always. He says: “Like You Father, are in Me and I in You, may these also be in us... I in them and You in Me...” (Jn 17:21-23). He allows us to enter and He also enters. He allows us to knock and He himself knocks. He makes us dwell in Him and puts His dwelling place in us together with the Father (Jn 14:23). Our call to be disciples of Christ and to announce Him to our brothers and sisters has its origin, its foundation, its vitality, in this reality of the reciprocal dwelling of the Lord in us and we in Him. Our true and lasting happiness springs from the realization of our remaining in Him. We have seen where He dwells, we have known the place of His presence and we have decided to remain with Him, today and always.

“Remain in Me and I in You... The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit... If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask for anything that you want and it will be given to you... Remain in My love” (Jn 15).

No, I will not go with anybody else, I will not go anywhere else but only with You, Oh Lord, my dwelling, my place of salvation! Allow Me, I pray, that I may remain here, near You, always, Amen.

6. A moment of prayer: Psalm 34

Refrain: Your face, Lord, I seek, do not hide Your face from me.

I seek Yahweh and He answers me,
frees me from all my fears.
Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright,
you will never hang your head in shame.
A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears,
saves him from all his troubles.
The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear Him,
and rescues them.

Taste and see that Yahweh is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in Him.
Fear Yahweh, you his holy ones;
those who fear Him lack for nothing.
Young lions may go needy and hungry,
but those who seek Yahweh lack nothing good.
Come, my children, listen to me,
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.

The eyes of Yahweh are on the upright,
his ear turned to their cry.
They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted,
he helps those whose spirit is crushed.
Though hardships without number beset the upright,
Yahweh brings rescue from them all.

7. Final Prayer

Father, I thank You for having given me the presence of Your Son Jesus in the luminous words of this Gospel; thank You for having made me listen to His voice, for having opened my eyes to recognize Him; thank You for having placed me on the way to follow Him and to enter into His house, Thank You because I can dwell with Him, in Him and because He dwells in You, You are in me. Thank You for having, once more, called me, making my life new. Make of me, I beg You, an instrument of Your love; that I may never stop announcing Christ who comes; that I may not be embarrassed, that I do not close myself, do not give up, but always become happier, to lead to Him, to You, the brothers and sisters whom You, every day, make me encounter. Amen.