“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Change, A Necessary Thing

In Today's Gospel we learn that change is something that is necessary, something which brings forth new doors and opportunities in our lives. Without change we would not be able to respond to where God continues to call us and lead us throughout our lives. Change is something we all need to participate in. It is God who calls us to change when our vocation continues to shape as our relationship with our Lord develops and matures. Change is also necessary for us because we are sinners who need to repent and rid of our old sinful ways. We all have things that hinder our relationship with God whether it be the use of fowl language, over indulging, our sexual appetites, or some other iniquity, we have to change our ways to follow the Lord more closely. It is evident that we can become caught up in our sinful ways and become used to living in this sin. We may even become comfortable with it, therefore we don't feel that it is such a "big" deal, when reality is that we cannot grow in the life and love of the Lord if we do not make the effort to reform our ways. It is by the grace of God and His loving Holy Spirit that we are able to be set free from the bondage of our sins, thanks to Christ who died on the Cross for us. God calls all of us not only to reform our lives, but to be accepting to the new relationships, opportunities, and conditions that come about even when we least expect it. We see in this weeks Gospel that Peter, Simon, James, and John accepted the change which God called them to. Christ came to them as they were fishing and said, "Come follow me." Jesus told them that he would make them "fishers of men" and that they would be his disciples to spread the Gospel to all nations, through baptism and proclamation of the Word. These men took on Christ and changed, maybe something that was not necessarily all too comforting at first, yet they realized that God had plans for them that would allow them to become their authentic selves. Therefore, we urge you to not resist change when things develop in your life, but to embrace it as the disciples did and trust that God will lead you on your way in this life and forever in the life to come. Change is a gradual process and we all will face the temptation to go back to our old sinful ways, but behold as the scriptures say those who accept the Lord have become new creatures in Him. Live in the Spirit and in the Lord and allow God to work in your life for change and repentance is the way we can grow in love and relationship with our Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world.