Sister Kate’s “Gospel Question of the Week” (Matthew 4:12-23) …Weekend of 1/25-26/2014 … The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time… In this weekend’s passage from the Holy Gospel we have a view of Jesus beginning his public ministry by choosing his helpers/disciples. To be honest, I have always found this passage of the Holy Gospel to be somewhat incredulous. Here’s why…if you were starting out on a big job and had the opportunity to hire the people who were going to be your support staff, what kind of people would you look for? Most likely, you’d begin looking for people who were bright, had initiative, an education, good PR skills, etc. etc. etc. You’d want the absolute best people that would “make you look good,” right? Making this application to Jesus, wouldn’t you think that he would choose his support staff from among the learned men (and women!) of the time…people who were highly respected? Not the case for Jesus! Who did He call to “follow Him”? He called fishermen!!! Now, you need to know that during the time of Jesus, fishermen were probably hard working people, but they were uneducated, lower class, smelly people. So, why would Jesus hire fishermen to be on His support staff? I believe that Jesus chose fishermen with intention. Jesus never lined Himself up with the rich and “powerful.” Rather, Jesus identified with the marginalized, with the poor not the wealthy, with the rural peasants not the urban elite, with the ruled not the rulers, and with the powerless and exploited, not the powerful. Thus, He established His ministry among the apparently small and insignificant places and people who, nevertheless, were the focus of God's promises, love and mercy. In addition, the fishermen, by their very trade, had those qualities which are necessary for living the Christian life: endurance, perseverance, patience, and “know how.” Think about it…no one would make it as a fisherman if they gave up after the first time there was a poor catch. Fishermen work long and hard to be successful. The same is required of us. Society militates against the Christian message. If we threw away our faith each time we hit a roadblock, our story as a Christian would be quite brief. Trying to live as Jesus lived…a person of service for others…demands that we also approach each day and each task with patience, perseverance, and endurance. When we do, then we, too, will introduce Christ’s light into the darkness of prejudice, war, abuse, social injustice, hunger, poverty, ignorance, greed, anger, vengeance and apathy. There’s a great pension plan related to this job of disciple…everlasting peace and happiness. Sounds good to me…and definitely worth the effort! Clint Eastwood is an American film icon. Who can forget Dirty Harry and the huge 45 caliber Magnum he carried, more a canon than a pistol, or the sneering invitation to ‘Make my day?’ But long before he was Dirty Harry, Eastwood was Rowdy Yates on the TV show Rawhide. There is an important hand gesture we remember from that boyhood drama. On horseback, the trail boss would lift his hand, index finger up, make a rapid circling motion in the air, then point ahead with these words, “O.K. boys, head ‘em up, and move ‘em out.” It was a call to a long, tough, trail ride with the promise of adventure along the way and a payout at the end. That is the gesture we can see Jesus making in these call stories. “Simon, Andrew, James, John, head ‘em up, and move ‘em out.’ Follow me, and I will help you corral people for God,” or, in the case of their work, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." GOSPEL QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: Jesus has called you to be a “fisher of men.” Have you accepted the challenge?