Today’s Gospel story teaches us how simple the whole notion of a vocation is. Jesus approaches the people He wants to be His followers, asks them a question, and their response is immediately to leave everything and follow Him. He meets them where they are, in their everyday lives, in the workplace, and puts the question to them. He only asks them to follow Him. There are no questions asked by the four men, no conditions laid down by them, nor is there any form of procrastination: “Let me sort a few things out first.†They just follow. It is only when they follow Jesus that they get the chance to see what He and His ministry are all about. If Jesus were to come into your workplace and give you this simple invitation, what would your response be? What answer would you give to the Lord? We feel unworthy or unprepared for the things God asks us to do. If we are feeling like this, we can remember the response of the first four disciples, their immediate decision to get up and go, to follow the Lord.
The question is really not “What answer would I give to the Lord?†but “What answer have I given to the Lord?†If today were “Everybody’s Vocation Sunday,†what vocation would you be thanking God for at this moment? What vocation has God blessed you with in your life? What opportunities and circumstances have you in your life that have made you a better person, a more enriched person? Let us all take time today to consider our own vocation, our own calling by the Lord. We may be amazed as we realize the many paths that the Lord has opened up before us. Perhaps we often think of our life as one where things just happen for no particular reason, but when we stop to think and pray we realize that the Lord has been there in the background directing all things. When Jesus invites us to follow Him, He does not leave us to get on with things on our own. No, He remains close to us, gently guiding and directing our footsteps. The Lord never abandons us. Today each one of us can hear the Lord calling out to us, “Follow me.†What will our response be?