When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. The passage constituting todays’ Gospel Reading presents us with the account of the calling of the first disciples of Jesus which took place not long after Jesus embarked on his public ministry. This was a development that might have been necessitated by the sheer amount of work that Jesus found himself facing. Ever since the cure of the demoniac inside the synagogue (the first sign performed by Jesus as reported by Luke [cf. Luke 4:33-37]), the news about Jesus’ healing ability spread throughout the surrounding villages and cities prompting scores of those who were in need of wholeness to seek him. It was becoming pretty clear that Jesus’ mission could not have come at a better time and that the good news which was the content of his preaching had been awaited with much longing. The afflicted were hungry for the good news of their being restored to wholeness while the captives had been awaiting the news of their being set free. As Jesus would later on say, the harvest was indeed abundant. Those who needed Jesus’ attention were overwhelming. It was too much for him to go at it alone. He needed helpers. He needed companions. He needed partners who would ensure that he is not crushed by the large number of those who needed his help. His first attempt in this endeavor took place at Lake Gennesaret where he netted his first bunch of helpers, one of whom (Simon Peter) appears not to have been a stranger to Jesus. When Jesus appeared at the shore where Simon Peter and his companions were washing their nets, the two were not meeting for the first time. Sometime before this encounter, Jesus had spent an entire evening at the house of Simon Peter (vv. 38-42a). Whereas it is not exactly clear how long the two had known each other, it appears that Jesus had come to develop some fondness for Peter. For even after leaving Simon’s house the following morning in order to go preach in the other towns, Jesus somehow ended up where Peter and his companions were fishing. The seeds of the desire to have Simon Peter as a companion seems to have been planted at an earlier encounter. Jesus was simply waiting for the right moment to make his move. And when the moment finally arrived, Jesus made his move in a rather spectacular way. After Jesus was done with teaching the crowd, he shifted his attention to Peter. He was aware that it had been a bad night for him and his companions. Their night-long labor had yielded nothing. They must have been downcast and tired. Yet when Jesus entered Simon Peter’s boat to escape being crushed by the crowd, Peter did not protest. Perhaps in an effort to reward Peter’s generosity, Jesus asked him to cast his net into the water. Although Peter questioned Jesus’ directive, he lowered his nets nonetheless. He obeyed, and whereas it was not the right time to make any catch, Simon’s net was almost being torn apart by the volume of fish netted. It was a sight that must have amazed even the crowd. However, before Peter and his companions could pinch themselves to see if they were dreaming, Jesus issued the summons. He wanted Peter and company to join him in the mission of fishing for souls. At Jesus’ command, Simon and his companions left behind the great catch which they had just made and followed him. It was a magical moment whose consequence they might have only come to understand later on. Simon and his companions were undoubtedly hard-working people, and all they must have ever wanted, as we all do, was to have a means of earning their daily bread and to be secure for tomorrow. Jesus had just helped them make a large catch that would have earned them some good returns. Instead of savoring the moment and deferring any consideration on Jesus’ proposal to another day, they left behind the great catch they had just made and strolled into a seemingly uncertain and unsecure future. It was a sight that definitely left speechless those who witnessed it. Simon Peter and his companions were not their usual selves when they decided to accept Jesus’ proposal without any hesitation. Some transformation had definitely taken place inside of them after witnessing the “miracle” of the catch (as professional fishermen, they knew that a successful catch only happens at night, not in broad daylight). It was a transformation that made Peter to be aware of both his sinfulness and unworthiness and asked Jesus to leave them alone. But instead of leaving them, Jesus allowed what was taking place inside of them to come to fruition. That sign that Jesus did (the great catch) made Simon and his companions to recognize that there is a human longing that cannot be met with food. The great catch must have awakened in them an awareness that there is a search (seeking) in life that reaches beyond the physiological sphere. They came to recognize that it was only in Jesus and what he was doing that lie the fulfillment of this seeking. They came to recognize Jesus as the well-spring of life (the source of the fullness of life). Perhaps this was why Simon went down on his knees. It was in recognition of who Jesus is. And this, too, must have been the reason, without any doubt, why they readily left their catch of a lifetime in order to accompany Jesus and be partners with him in his ministry of proclaiming the Good News. In Jesus, they came to find something greater than fish: the salvation of their souls.