Call and Response by Father Ian Maher

Call and Response

by Father Ian Maher

It can be an interesting exercise to spend some time reflecting on the direction of your life, along with the people, events and places that have helped shape who you are today. The fact is that none of us live and grow in a vacuum. Instead, we are shaped by the relationships and encounters we experience on our journey through life. There is where we hear God’s call.

Who we are today is a consequence of all that has happened to us and all that we have experienced up to this point, and we will be shaped further by what is to come. The lens through which we see the world is determined by all that has contributed to making us the people that we are. We cannot understand our world except through our own uniqueness.

It is in and through our experiences of the world and our encounters with other people that we discern the direction of our lives and the call that God makes upon us. More often than not, it is through wrestling with both the challenges and the humdrumness of life that we find purpose and meaning, and the sense of direction that God is showing to us. Then, it is down to us to decide how we respond.

In Luke’s gospel (5.1-11) is the story of Jesus calling the first disciples. Simon Peter, along with some other fishermen were washing their nets having laboured all night without a catch. Jesus suggests that they go and cast their nets again. Simon grudgingly agrees and the result is that so many fish are caught in the nets that another boat is needed to help land the catch.

Astonished by what they have experienced, Simon Peter along with his fellow fishermen James and John, respond to Jesus’ direct call for them to leave their nets behind and follow him, being told by Jesus that from now they will be catching people. It is striking to consider how willing they were to respond so readily to the call of Jesus on their lives. Few people realise the certainty of their call in such a dramatic way.

Far more often the direction of a person’s life comes into focus over a period of time that includes highs and lows, progress and setbacks, joy and despair. But in and through the glorious messiness, if we remain open and attentive to what God is saying to us, God will lead us to where we need to be.

Every baptised Christian is called to be a disciple, a follower, of Jesus. We are not all called to be a Peter; leaving everything behind in the way he did might not be what God is asking us to do: but we are all called. There is no blueprint or set of instructions as to how we might do this. Instead, we must work out God’s call for ourselves within the unique contexts of our lives.

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus within your family, among your neighbours and friends, within the context of your work or career? These and similar questions are worth pondering if we are to take our Christian faith seriously.

So take a little time out this week to pray and reflect on what God might be saying to you now, at this particular stage of your life. And how you are responding to God’s call.

Charity link: The Children's Hospital Charity, Sheffield https://www.tchc.org.uk