Following the Lord

Following the Lord in Every Way

The plan of the heavenly mystery is portrayed in Christ. After he was baptized, the entrance of heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit came forth and is visibly recognized in the form of a dove…. Then a voice from heaven spoke the following words: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. He is revealed as the Son of God by sound and sight [and] we should likewise know that following the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit comes upon us from the gates of heaven, imbuing us with the anointing of heavenly glory. We become the sons of God by the adoption expressed through the Father’s voice. These actual events prefigured an image of the mysteries established for us….

By choosing fishermen, the role of their future service is made clear from their profession: just as they drew fish from the sea, so they would draw men one by one from this age to a higher place, that is, into the light of a heavenly dwelling. By their abandonment of their profession, their country, and homes, we who will follow Christ are taught not to be bound by concern for life in this world or by attachment to our family’s home. In the choice of the first four Apostles, apart from the evident veracity of the facts (for this is how it happened), the number of the future evangelists is prefigured. Christ went around Galilee preaching in the synagogues about the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing the infirmities of all the sick. He revealed himself by these deeds so that he would be recognized as the one whom the Jews had long read about in the books of the prophets.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers