Dcn Brigid Waszczak

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most of us grew up hearing fairy tales. We loved the unexpected endings: frogs turning into handsome princes, ugly ducklings growing into elegant swans, a Wizard unveiled as an ordinary man behind the curtain who then turns out to be a wizard after all. All are stories of transformation. Ordinary characters became heroes and heroines.

Luke’s fantastic “fish story” of simple fishermen recast as fishers of men, follows a fairy tale format. Jesus sees that their rough exteriors cannot hide the teachable disciples who eventually champion his “Way” of leading and living into God’s Kingdom.

Jesus isn’t entertaining the crowd or these fishermen. His miracle of abundance had purpose: it removed the barrier between this world’s reality and the vision of God so that Peter, Andrew, James, and John became aware of their call. Jesus never actually asked them to follow him. They, on their own, realized that fishing for men was their true calling.

Finding our calling rarely involves a fairy tale. But it often comes after an astonishing revelation, or when we’re feeling “at sea”—confused or unable to decide what to do next. That reorienting moment might be seen only in hindsight, but it confirms our call, what we’re meant to do with our lives. And, like Peter who had to ask for assistance, awakening to our call usually involves the reassurance of others to help us realize we aren’t crazy, impractical, or unqualified. Call comes as it did for the apostles, in the midst of our ordinary, busy, complicated lives. To respond, we need only be humble enough to believe Jesus calls regular, everyday people into his service.  

May you find your call. We each have many. It keeps changing as we grow spiritually!

Blessings,

—Dcn Brigid