For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

We have  two stories in our readings today about people being called by God. The 1st story is about the call of Jonah who is told to go into the great city of Nineveh and change that city.  The 2nd story, our gospel, is about the call of Peter and Andrews, James and John, to be disciples of Jesus.

Whenever we hear stories of people called by God in the scriptures we’re meant to think about our own call, our own mission in life, so let’s look at these two stories.

First, both of the stories tell us to believe that life is a call from God. We have been called into life by God. You or I didn’t get here by ourselves. Life is a gift God gives us. Life is distinct gift. There will never be another you or me.

 Each of us have been given a mission in life. Each of us is called to do what God gives us to do. “Follow me,” Jesus says.

Jesus says simply to Peter and Andrew, James and John, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” They slowly understand what Jesus calls them to do. It’s the same with us. We slowly understand what God calls us to do, but we have to believe we have a mission. 

The fishermen in our gospel knew fishing takes a lot of patience. We have a catch to make, but we’re not sure when we’ll make it. Our own mission in life may not be known easily or right away. That’s why we need to follow Jesus. God is with us, he never loses interest in us. Wherever we are, we have a mission. 

The story of Jonah is another story of God’s call. He’s called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and change that city.  But Jonah doesn’t want to go near Nineveh, so he gets on a boat at Joppa that’s going in the opposite direction. 

You remember what happens. A great storm comes up and the sailors on the ship are convinced it’s Jonah’s fault, so they throw him into the sea and he’s swallowed up by a whale. 

Jonah is a classic symbol of someone who refuses to do what God asks him to do. Jonah in the whale is a symbol of people who get swallowed up by a drinking problem, or a drug problem or a sex problem. 

Yet God delivers him, and a mission still awaits him. Jonan is a symbol of God’s patience with us. He didn’t let Jonah go. He pursued him in spite of his resistance. And God is that way with us.