Brother in Christ

In the weekend’s Gospel, Jesus calls the brothers Simon (later Peter) and Andrew to follow Him and become fishers of men. The two brothers leave their nets behind and follow Christ.

A Deacon gave a beautiful homily on this Gospel passage describing how Christ is also calling us today to be disciples. Christ is calling us to do amazing things for His Kingdom if we just put our nets down and follow Him. The nets can be viewed as our worldly concerns or anything in this life that holds us back from giving ourselves fully to Christ, from being true disciples.

Having heard the homily, I started to think about what ‘nets’ I carry which hold me back from being the disciple I am called to be, from being the saint I can become?

As a man who has been praying with how I can best serve Christ, I have felt a call to teach. There is a men’s group I am a leader of as well as a young adult Bible study, and despite having seen some of the fruits of those trees, I believe Christ is calling me to do more. I have prayed with the idea of giving a talk, specifically on the Eucharist. I have learned so much about this topic and I truly believe I am called to share that with others (in small ways and large ways), yet I find myself not taking the next steps to do so. The main reason being doubt.

Doubt is the net I carry in my hands. Doubt that I could never be as well versed or knowledgeable as priests who have studied and lived the faith for years, or people who have Masters or PhDs in theology so what could I possibly bring to the table that other people have not?

Yet deep down, I know Christ is calling me to more, calling me to put the net of doubt down and share what I know with others to bring them to a deeper relationship with Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and to be the disciple He is calling me to be.

The only question I have to answer is will I answer the call of Christ?