I wasn’t casting a net into the sea or mending my nets; I was a sophomore in college running laps at the student fitness center. I stopped mid-run and realized, “Running away from God is not cardiovascular activity!”
That was my “follow me” moment.
The Lord was whispering, “Follow me," but I was hightailing it in the other direction. That night I dropped my nets and six months later I was a postulant in religious life.
I have to imagine that when Peter, Andrew, James, and John heard the Lord say, “Follow me” they were a bit startled. They were just going about their daily routine, and the Lord broke in and called them out of the ordinary into the extraordinary: from catching fish to catching men—fellow disciples of Jesus Christ.
Sisters, the Lord is calling each one of us to follow Him in extraordinary ways through the ordinary tasks of our daily lives. As you do the dishes, He whispers, “Follow me." As you fold the laundry, drive carpool, sit through another meeting, hear Him whisper, “Follow me.”
He does not ask us to drop the nets of our daily responsibilities, but to drop the fear that holds us back from following Him. He is calling us to follow Him by doing everything for love of Him. In ordinary moments, He calls you to the extraordinary through virtue, generosity, charity, and patience.
So, as you’re picking up the Legos, tucking in your kids, offering a kind word, or giving extra time to a co-worker or stranger, hear His whisper, “Follow me.” It is in following Him in those little ways that we, like the Apostles, become fishers of men and preachers of the love of God (Matthew 4:19). It is through our acts of virtue and dropping the nets of our fear that His message goes out to all the earth, His words to the end of the world (Romans 10:18).
Ask yourself today, "What nets of fear hold me back from being a true disciple of Jesus Christ?"
Sister Maria Fatima grew up in Rhode Island and entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 2005. She holds a MA in Theology from the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. Sister is in her eleventh year of enlightening middle school minds and drawing hearts to Jesus while teaching religion and history. She currently resides at the motherhouse in Ann Arbor, MI, having previously taught in Texas, Florida, and Ohio. She is a contributing author to our Lent devotional All She Had.
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