Well I thought I would give it a go. A Franciscan friar who is at the moment incapacitated by an injury i received in Zambia, Central Africa or some say Southern Africa, three years ago. In such a condition one has many an opportunity to dwell on things. I won't bore you with my injuries, I will just bore you with more thoughts! I am sitting here in a very warm Melbourne not enjoying the heat at all. I will be celebrating Holy Mass in about 40 minutes and I am sure I will be sweating profusely. It seems to be the norm these days. It was never like this in Africa!
The Gospel for today is Mark 1:14-20. Jesus without any social interaction asks a group of fishermen to follow him. And amazingly they do! "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." What makes these men do this? Successful fishermen i would imagine with families to feed - and off they go and follow Jesus. What is it about Jesus that these men change their whole way of living? In their hearts they must have been waiting for Jesus. Despite their success, they must have instinctively known that there was a better way of living and Jesus is the way.
I need to hear Jesus calling me by name each and every moment of my life to know he is the way, the only way. That Jesus is life itself.
I have just finished celebrating the Holy Mass. Beautiful people come to our parish - very devout, people of simple faith. God bless them. One particular family was there - Samoan mother and 5 children aged from 7 to 25. Really delightful to see.
My goodness it is really hot today! I will endeavour to do some reading - Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Welcome to the blogosphere Adrian-John. The friars in Toronto are just about to say good-bye to a Zambia friar, Ferena Lambe, who has been doing doctoral research here. Do you miss Zambia? It sounds like an amazing place.
ReplyDeleteKeep sharing your life with us... it's good to hear about your experiences and reflections.
Stay cool :)