FISHER(WO)MEN

I am not a fisherman. I have never been a fisherman. I don’t ever want to be a fisherman. My wife and daughters like to fish. I think it’s a waste of time. It’s probably a lot of fun when you catch something; but just standing there on the shore or in the middle of the water or even on the open sea in a big boat waiting for some dumb fish to snag your hook is not my cup of tea. I don’t mind eating the fish that are caught, but I’d rather be golfing.

Of course, to a fisherman, or fisherwoman in my wife’s and daughters’ case, hitting a little white ball and then chasing after it is also a waste of time. They’d rather be fishing.

To each his own. But whatever it is we like to do – fish, golf, knit, play tennis – there are two requirements in order to be good at it: talent and patience. I can be the most talented golfer in the world; but if I do not have patience, I will not score well. I can have the patience of Job but no talent and the results will be the same: a lousy score.

Talent and patience are basic requirements to be successful in any endeavor. They are also requirements when it comes to being fisher-people like Jesus’ disciples were called to be. An old saying has it that five 5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish. That is probably true when it comes to being a disciple like Peter and John. It’s a good thing that we are not all called to be such disciples.

Some are. Others are called to be teachers, and others are called to be preachers, and others are called to be healers, and so on. Each of us has been given certain gifts for the building up of God’s Kingdom here on earth. We must discover what those gifts are and use them to the best of our ability. But we must also have patience.

We don’t pick up a fishing pole become an expert at fishing. We don’t pick up a golf club for the first time and shoot par. The innate, God-given talent may be there but it must be patiently nurtured to reach its peak. One lesson does not make us an expert nor does one sermon covert us or another. Living out our faith and sharing that faith takes talent and patience, patience, patience. And we need one another.

We have been called, each of us, through our baptism to be fishers of others in our own unique way in our own specific time. Our individual ways are many and diverse. We begin by learning what it means to be a Christian and knowing that God gives us whatever it takes to be one. Then we live it as best we can.

Of course, we do not wait until we become experts before we begin to teach. To become a good golfer we must golf. To become a good fisherman we must fish. To be a good Christian we must continually come to a better understanding of our faith. We must also recognize the talents God has given us. Then we can, with patience, teach that faith to others as we live out that faith and, at the same time we will grow in the practice of that faith ourselves.