Gospel – Matthew 4:12-23   Gathering

Jesus begins his ministry with the first of many ‘gatherings’.  Hearing that John had been arrested, he ‘withdraws’ to Galilee.  He is shaken and perhaps he too in under threat.  Nevertheless, he preaches the same bold message as John: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’  This is the message the disciples will later be sent to preach (Mt 10:7).  Matthew interprets Jesus’ arrival in Galilee as fulfilment of the prophet Isaiah’s declaration that a ‘great light’ would shine in the darkness.  The reference to ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’ offer a clue as to who will be gathered and included in Jesus’ mission.

Fishing metaphors features heavily throughout Matthew’s Gospel.  Jesus starts his ministry in the fishing village of Capernaum by gathering a crew of disciples – two sets of brothers, all fishermen.  In terms of social status, fishermen were low down in the pecking order.  Their occupation was precarious at best, leaving them economically vulnerable, and they had to pay taxes to the Roman Empire, which made them unpopular.  They might seem an unlikely choice for a Messiah starting his mission.  Simon (Peter) and Andrew are casting their nets out when Jesus calls them, quipping them ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’  Similarly, James and John abandon their net-mending ‘immediately’ to follow him.  They are ‘all in’.  The mission has momentum; these fishfolk are needed as the sea is ripe for fishing.  Their task will be to draws others in, and the net will be cast indiscriminately, far and wide.  Later, Jesus will compare the kingdom of heaven to a ‘dragnet’, catching fish of every kind (Mt 13:47).

When we join together for liturgy we often begin by acknowledging our ‘gathering’, indicating that we are being called out of our ordinary, everyday lives to gather as community, aware of God’s presence among us.  We are also called every day into God’s service, invited to repentance, a change of heart.  Like the disciples, we are called, and we call; we are gathered, and we gather.  When we are drawn in by Jesus, we extend the same open welcome to others.  The kingdom is at hand, and Jesus’ net gathers indiscriminately, regardless of social or economic status.

© Triona Doherty & Jane Mellet, 2022.  A Journey with the Sunday Gospels in the Year of Matthew.  (Dublin: Messenger Publications 2022).                                                                                                                   _____________________

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.                    – Anne Frank