One day as He was walking along the beach beside the Lake of Galilee, He saw two brothers – Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew – out in a boat fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. Jesus called out, “Come along with me and I will show you how to fish for the souls of men!” And they left their nets at once and went with Him.

Matthew’s description of the calling of the first apostles, which we hear this weekend, depends on Mark’s version, even though he has slightly rewritten it. Luke, rewrote the story more extensively and added the miraculous catch of fish. John, on the other hand, has quite a   different account: Andrew and another disciple (not named, but presumably John himself) were disciples of John the Baptizer, who introduced them to Jesus; and Andrew introduced his brother Simon to Jesus.

The point of the story in Matthew and Mark is that the four, (i.e., Peter, Andrew, James and John), dropped everything and followed Jesus immediately even though they did not know him. They dropped their jobs, left their families and became disciples. None of the gospels give any implication that they returned to their homes and their livelihood. Three of the first four – Peter, James and John – formed an inner circle that witnessed incidents not seen by the other disciples. The promise to make them fishers of men is an intimation of the apostolic office. A similar urgency is expressed in the call of Levi (i.e., Matthew) who collected taxes.

Our Church, in presenting this story of the call of the first disciples on the second weekend after Pentecost, reveals to us that saints are people who witness to God’s revelation about how humans are to live by following the Way of Jesus.

This message is reinforced by the passage that we read from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. He says that those who follow Jesus show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts. Saints try to live like Jesus, a living model of how humans are to live, because they know that by living like Him they can become what God intended when He created them.

It is extremely important that we understand that all of us have been called to be followers of Jesus, not just those few who have taken religious vows. All of us are called to be witnesses to God’s presence within us. The way we demonstrate our understanding of this call us by the way we voluntarily choose to live and treat others