Fascinate

John Shea writes the most amazing gospel commentaries. The one he has written for this Sunday’s gospel, where Simon and Andrew, James and John are summoned to be disciples of Jesus, is again completely filled with extraordinary insight. But the word that caught me most by surprise was “fascinated.” He talks about a disciple as someone who is fascinated by another – so much so that s/he wants to do everything like that other person. Think about it – think about someone with whom you have been fascinated. You watch the person, you think about the person, you want to be around the person, and pretty soon you may be trying to imitate the person. This person HAS your attention. Teens are fascinated by their rock stars, so much so that they dress like them, sing their songs, follow them in the news, and many dream of having that particular lifestyle as adults themselves. Who fascinates us? Google gives us the cultural top ten in “trending now” on their homepage. Is this where our attention is focused? Maybe that’s why the first disciples left their nets so willingly – they were fascinated by Jesus. They wanted to be with him; they wanted to do what he did, say what he said. Enter into the world of the first disciples; be fascinated again.