Jesus has been baptized, the Father has confirmed his mission and now he starts to teach about the Kingdom of God. As a teacher, he began to gather disciples who would participate in his mission. Today's passage from Mark's Gospel describes the calling of the first disciples. Jesus used words of invitation, which were so inspired and so strong that Simon and Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, immediately left their works and followed him.

The word immediately is extremely important. According to the account in St John's Gospel, the four of them had already encountered Jesus. However Mark tells of a special encounter with Jesus, who called them to follow him. This encounter was so unusual and so deep that they were ready to leave everything in order to follow him, immediately. They did not think about the future or the past. They just took a risk and yielded to this sudden desire, which fulfilled their hearts.

There is a huge difference between knowing about Jesus and meeting him. Baptized as children perhaps, or as adults responding to God's gift of faith, we have learned about Jesus. The Gospel calls us to a more intimate encounter with Jesus as Lord and Saviour.