1. Introductory prayer
I calm down and I feel the presence of God in me. I ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit to open the word of God, I accept it and allow it to fulfill my mission in me, in order to become more and more what I am in Holy Trinity. Then I ask God for this prayer, in my own words, or with those that are here…
Jesus meets me where I am, in everyday life, comes into what I do. He invites us to change direction, to let go of our own strengths, our own corrections, and focus on a View that seeks beyond and beyond, and also brings a new taste to everyday life. Lord, let me follow you.
2. Reading – Listening: – First Disciples of Jesus – Mark 1:14-20 – Meaning and Commentary
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
3. Thoughts on the Gospel – First Disciples of Jesus – Mark 1:14-20 – Meaning and Commentary
The waiting time has passed, the decisive moment has come. God will soon begin to reign. John the Baptist belonged to the time of preparation and was completing his mission. Jesus belongs to the present time when the reign is being established. In fact, the present is where people are required to cooperate: turn, turn to God. He who listens can enter this kingdom by turning to Jesus. But because everyone is given freedom, they can also turn away from the good conscience and ignore it. This is a reality that is close to each of us. Conversion, faith, and walking after Jesus are three aspects of the call to all to follow him, which is a good, happy conscience.
The Sea of Galilee is the scene of Jesus’ activity. This harp-shaped lake was a source of livelihood for the people around it. On its banks, Jesus is calling. His view includes and determines a choice of life that is different from the daily lives of fishermen, boats, nets, and fish. Simon and Andrej are brothers. First Disciples of Jesus. The fraternal bond here serves as the basis for a new bond of faith that raises their blood above kinship. God calls by name based on that identity.
It’s not an invitation. This is the call, “Follow me.” The creative word of God, which calls light and other beings into existence, now calls man – the image of God – to become partaker of the new creation. The call does not come from an autonomous or personal decision, but from an encounter with Jesus calling. It is an act of grace and not of human choice. Jesus does not wait for a free decision, but calls with divine authority, as God called the prophets in the Old Testament. It is not the students who choose their teacher, as was the custom with rabbis in those days, but it is the teacher who chooses his disciples not as heirs of doctrine or doctrine, but of the life of God. The call means leaving the family, the profession, and a complete change of life for a new life in Jesus. His call to the disciples is an “eschatological call.”
The answer is immediate and breaks even the strongest bonds. To follow Jesus means full commitment to the life and mission of Jesus.
And as he went a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, and called them. Compared to the call of the first two, an element is added – father and workers. Dad has a name. The fact that he is deprived of his sons gives him a unique dignity. He is left alone with the workers who will take the place of the sons. The loneliness of those who remain is never meaningless loneliness.
The nets need to be upgraded as they require a different type of fishing: the nets will be thrown into the pain and dark night of human hearts. The words “Follow me” are like a key that opens new horizons. No one embarks on this adventure alone. We become brothers and sisters to each other, increasingly by sharing experiences when we are no longer looking for ourselves but to give to others. Jesus, a man among so many others, is God who approached the shores of people’s lives and entered their lives. A God who sees with human eyes. A God who addresses with different authority, “Follow me.”
And the fishermen immediately followed him. They went to other shores and other shores, the levels of solid land and settlements, the levels of shrines and streets. They left because of a call that was able to persuade with a look that they were leaving behind everything, not just their boats, nets, but even their parents, their personal history, even the very origin of their being. Friends who have trusted the waves of the Sea of Galilee at night leave their safe zone and surrender to the sea. An old friendship is leaving, not knowing where, but in the heart is the warmth of a voice and a look that invites, “Walk with me.”
4. Meditation – thinking
About everything I have read and what has touched me, I am thinking now. I let my thoughts also touch my heart. Think:
- When Jesus calls me “follow me”, what horizons does it open for me?
- What mission is Jesus inviting me to now?
- Lord, what do you want me to look at these days with your Love gaze in particular?
5. Personal Prayer
In the next moments of silence, I talk about this with Jesus. I tell him what I think, what I feel, what I want. I ask him for the grace that I need for … (make your conversation with God).
6. Contemplation – Quiet moment with God
Now I let silence be in me. I am simply present in God, as He is quietly present in me. Perhaps from this silence, I hear God’s speech, which invites me perhaps in thanksgiving and worship or to open myself and accept him in my path life and work, maybe He gives me the courage to continue searching for…
7. Action
When I walk into a personal relationship with God, he changes me, makes me more loving, and encourages me to the concrete action, which is….. (write down your insights for concrete action).
8. Prayer at the end
Thank you, Christ, for your call to turn my life upside down to become a full, delicious, inviting life. Thank you for coming to where I am, let it be so wounded, lost, torn. Thank you for sewing the nets you give me as a tool.
9. Review of my prayer meditation or reflection
This is my view on what was happening in me at the time, I spent praying. In my reflection, I can help myself with the following questions:
- How was I feeling when I started praying?
- What happened during the prayer?
- What feelings and thoughts could I detect in myself?
- How did I feel about the revelations, which I had during my prayer?
- What did I learn about myself, about God, about his attitude towards me and others, and me to him and others?
- How did I finish my prayer?
- What did I receive for my everyday life?
- In the end, I can write the lessons, findings, and insights. I can write also, where I had problems, they may have great value in learning about my relationship and myself with God. They can also help to find a more appropriate way of prayer for me.
- Then I thank the Holy Trinity. If I pray with my family or in the community, friends, I can share with them what I felt in this prayer. With a prayer for one another, you can support yourself throughout the week.
Lectio Divina meditations are published and adapted with permission from the Jesuits home – ignacijevdom.si
Text from the Bible – New International Version (KJV)