Third Sunday of Year - Jonah and the fishermen

Last Sunday we heard about the call of Samuel and Jesus' first disciples, and we considered the nature of God's call. Today, once again we look at some people who were called by God and we are invited to meditate on our vocation, on our response to God's will.

In the gospel we hear of Jesus calling his disciples: Simon, Andrew, John and James. Jesus says to them: Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men. I was wondering why Jesus called the fishermen. There were many farmers, craftsmen and merchants in Israel at that time but there were a relatively small number of fishermen. So, why did Jesus call them as the first disciples? Why not another trade? I believe the answer lies in Jeremiah 16. At the beginning of the chapter God reveals his intention to scatter the people of Israel for their disobedience but he promises not to leave them in exile. What will be the sign of the start of this second Exodus? The answer is: God will raise up many fishermen! But now I will send for many fishermen and they will catch them (Jer 16:16).

So, among Jesus' disciples were many fishermen; not all, but the majority. Let's think about it! Unlike many other professions, fishermen are involved in dealing with something they can't see. They deal with something that is under the sea surface. When they cast out their nets they can't see the fish. So, in our spiritual life we deal very often with something we can't see, something which is under the surface.

Meanwhile, many of us tend to do exactly the opposite. Often we don't even try to focus on our inner feelings... deep down in our hearts. Then we tend to judge ourselves and others in accordance with what we see. Somebody is physically attractive and we like her straight away; somebody is less attractive and we don't like him. When somebody has a drinking problem we may judge him straight away: He's a bad man. When we find out someone is violent or depressed, we may say: another bad guy! But what lies under the surface? What's the real reason that someone drinks too much or is depressed? Without knowing the background of that person, it would be quite dangerous for us to judge him (her). Therefore, I think that we need to be like fishermen and at least try to deal with things we can't see.

In the first reading we have a brief passage from the Book of Jonah which is one of the shortest books of the Bible and one of the most fascinating, surprising, colourful and spiritually rewarding. Let me briefly tell you the whole story of Jonah. God told him to go to the big city of Nineveh and call the people to repentance. But Jonah disobeyed God at first. Instead of going to Nineveh he boarded a ship to Tarshish. God wanted Jonah to go east by land. Where does he go? West by sea! Then there was a great storm; he was thrown into the sea and was swallowed by a big fish.

After that he heard a second call from God, which is our reading for today. It was exactly the same call: Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to. This time he went to Nineveh straight away. Even before he reached the halfway mark on his journey through the city, all the people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways. Their repentance caused God to change his mind - the city was saved. We might think that Jonah succeeded. However... it's quite surprising to see what happened to him at that time! When God was pleased with the people, Jonah was really annoyed. He even accused God of being merciful, saying: That was why I first tried to flee to Tarshish, since I knew you were a tender, compassionate God, slow to anger, and rich in faithful love. That's incredible. Jonah was angry because God was merciful and saved the people of Nineveh. He was very selfish and self-centred. The point is this: finally, he focused on his inner feelings. He undertook a long journey in order to better understand himself.

Dear Parishioners. From time to time I hear people say: I do not understand why I am so angry? Why does happiness of other people make me so irritable? Then I say: Read the Bible and it will help you to understand yourself better. Often I hear the reply: I don't have time. Really? We have time to watch TV, listen to the music, surf the Internet. We enjoy different things that help us relax. But the problem is that they do not solve our problems. They can help us to forget about them for a moment but they can't help us to better understand ourselves and others. In fact, we are just being like Jonah - running away from God.

So, can I suggest you something? Read the Bible. It's not just a book about some people from the distant past. By no means! That's just a literal meaning of the Bible. At the same time it has a spiritual meaning too, where every word is of great importance. When we read the Bible we begin to understand our problems. We begin to discover our inner feelings; we learn how to deal with things we can't see; we are made into fishers of men. In this sense the Bible is the Book of Life.

The homilies from the previous Sundays are stored in the Archive