Heeding a call

Sunday Morning, February 7

I was relaxing by the garden late this Sunday morning when I noticed some birds chirping by the trees quite very near. I was fascinated by their soothing, musical sounds, so I whipped up my mobile camera-phone, sauntered towards the trees slowly, and tried to capture a video record of the birds as they were happily chirping along. I was very careful not to alarm the birds as I focused my camera-phone, when my eldest son suddenly appeared, calling me from behind. I was startled (so were the birds), and that abruptly ended my fanciful moment. Sigh.

In this Sunday's Gospel (Lk 5:1-11), we see Simon Peter's normal life being interrupted. "When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him". Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples heeded the call to leave everything and follow Him. It must be a reminder that in every time and place, God calls us to heed certain calls in accordance with His plan, and we must act not for our personal interests alone.

Back to my little episode. It appeared that my son called me because he was just so eager to share a recent sports story that captured his interest. As I had scant time to update myself with sports developments, his story quickly captured my rapt attention. It turned out that listening to him talk was more fascinating and much more worthwhile than watching and listening to the birds.