Only with much hesitation do I dare write that last sentence. There is something about speaking of God in the same sentence alongside words such as “can’t,” “couldn’t,” etc. But when God took the radical step of becoming a human being, he wasn’t just teasing or pretending!

No, he put himself in a position of needing our support and cooperation to accomplish his saving plan in Jesus. In the words of Saint Augustine, “God can save us, but he won’t without us!” Salvation is a gift but it must be freely accepted.

This is why Jesus made disciples. He needed to build a team. Jesus, the man was not omnipresent (present everywhere). He called and instructed disciples (students) and molded them into apostles (ones who are sent). But as Saint Paul points out in the second reading, for Jesus' team (the Church) to be effective they would have to work together, suppress their egos, put Christ first, others second and self third. They would have to affirm each others’ strengths, compensate for each others' weakness and agree on who the opposition is. They have to communicate effectively and often and study the same “Playbook” (Bible, Catechism).

Finally, we, as Jesus’ disciples, must love God with a passion, hate sin with a vengeance, worship the Father with intensity, serve others with urgency and seek to improve our response-time to God’s commands until they rival that of the fishermen in today’s Gospel who answered his call without hesitation!