(Source from The Word Among Us)

He called them. (Mark 1:20)

What did Jesus actually say to James and John when he “called them” (Mark 1:20)? Did he just approach them, as he did with Simon and Andrew, and say, “Come after me” (1:17)? Or was there a longer, more involved conversation? Whatever happened, we know that this encounter had a powerful effect on these two fishermen. They “left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (1:20).

How did Jesus call you? It doesn’t matter whether it happened at a specific point in time or over many years. What matters is that like these first disciples, Jesus called you, and you chose to follow him. 

The first call we hear is Jesus calling us to himself. He is the One who shows us the way to the Father and who fills our hearts with his love, mercy, and grace. As it did for these disciples, our relationship with our Lord becomes the foundation for our life and for everything else we do. 

Jesus also calls us to mission. Whether we are called to marriage and family, to the priesthood, or to the religious or single life, we are all given a mission, a specific way he wants us to serve him. He may even call us to be missionaries like the first disciples. 

But we can also receive multiple callings in our lives, and our calling can change or expand over time. Maybe in one season of life, we are called to focus mainly on the needs of our family. In another, God might be asking us to spend more time meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters, perhaps by teaching the faith or caring for the poor. 

Spend some time at Mass today thanking Jesus for the ways he has called you. It’s not always easy to say yes—we know that following Jesus will inevitably involve hardships as well as joys. But there’s no greater honor or privilege we could ever hope to have!

“Jesus, I am forever grateful that you have called me to follow you.”