“When all the noise is gone there is only God.”

“In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.” – Mother Teresa

Gospel text: (MK 1:14-20)
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

Fishers of men? He doesn’t say come after me and I will strengthen your faith, or make you a better person, or give you wisdom or humility. Instead, he will make you a fisher of men. With this phrase, we are given a responsibility to spread his good word. This idea of sharing the word of God can be intimidating and uncomfortable, especially in our society today.

“Follow me” is a recurring theme in the Bible. Jesus makes the same call to us today - on what might seem to be a very ordinary day in our lives. If we can bring our world into silence for just a few minutes and listen with our hearts, we hear Jesus say directly to each one of us, “Come and follow me.” It is a call to follow Jesus in a new way, a deeper way. Jesus invites us to put down the nets of our lives filled with clutter of things that distract us, anger us, make us feel jealous or insecure; distractions that keep us too busy to have a heart to heart conversation with him. And if we “drop our nets” and simply decide to listen and follow him today, it will be anything but ordinary.