“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The call of Jesus to repent, to reform your life, was and is a call for an extreme make-over of values, habits, lifestyles.

Jesus came upon Simon, Andrew, James and John, at work, in the midst of their ordinary lives, their jobs as fishermen.

He spoke one sentence to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

“At once they dropped their nets, and followed him.”

They had already been searching and Jesus called them because it was time, they were ready. Sort of. Watch them during their formation. One lied, denied, and cried at what he had said or done.

The nature of their change means that all values, all behavior, all relationships, are now to be judged in a different way. There is no going back without betraying the call. Even the Magi knew that.

Each of us is called at home, at work ... wherever.

One day something or someone opens a door. You meet an understanding person. Read a book. Something at the right time which shows the way. Even then you don’t necessarily change your whole life at once. It takes time for the message to become clear.

It takes time for you to see the implications, to begin to do in practice what you are called to do.

Each person, each situation is different. But, the time comes, as it came for the Apostles, and for so many men and women and children after them, when a real and very apparent change is demanded: You have to drop the nets, and follow.

What that means depends on the way God is calling you into the kingdom. It may be through an illness, your own, or another’s. Through forgiveness, reconciliation about something you have done in the past and how it is affecting you now. Through the social issues of our time — life issues, economic issues, global issues, no one is disconnected.

We live in a time that has many lands in shadow, in darkness ... a world of desperate hunger and hatred and mindless destruction of people.

But, each time one person hears the call, drops the nets, and steps forward to share in the mission of Jesus, a light dawns.

In Christ you always discover who you really are.

“I must empty myself and let Jesus come in and take over. I have prayed to understand his agenda for me. It is unsettling to pray to be emptied of your self; it seems a challenge almost beyond our reach as humans. But if we try, I have learned, God does most of the work. I must simply let myself go, in love and trust of the Lord.”

Well, at least try and see the places you will go. With Him.