• Jesus Calls His Apostles

Jesus Calls His Apostles

Window Description:

The window of Christ calling his disciples, located on the west wall of the nave, depicts the moment when Christ calls Peter and Andrew to be his followers. The Gospels tell us that while walking along the Sea of Galilee, Christ sees the brothers Peter and Andrew casting a net into the water and asks them to be disciples. Upon hearing this request, the brothers immediately leave their nets to follow him.

The window conveys a scene full of narrative detail and human emotion. In it, Christ stands before Peter and Andrew with arms outstretched. One hand points to Peter and the other to the distance, a gesture that embodies the quote at the bottom of the window in the cartouche: "Come after me and I will make you to become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17; Matt 4:19) The quote in the banderole-an unrolled banner-at the top of the window clarifies the nature of the call as a vocation: "You have not chosen me but I have chosen you."(John 15:16) Christ speaks these words to his disciple at the Last Supper, rather than at the point the window depicts. The juxtaposition of an image from the early part of Christ's ministry with a quotation from the later part stresses the narrative unity of the Gospels. This window is highly appropriate to Saint John's Catholic Chapel where students are encouraged to actively discern their life's vocation.

Returning to the window, directly in front of Christ kneels St. Peter. He is gray-haired, bearded, and simply attired, as dictated by artistic tradition. Next to him stands his younger brother Andrew. The Gospels offer little information on Peter and Andrew's response to Christ's request and say only that they quickly stop what they are doing to be with him. The window fills out the moment by suggesting, through posture and gesture, that the apostles felt humbled in the face of such an extraordinary request. Indeed, the window is full of narrative embellishments. Around the main figures are signs of fishing: a wooden boat, basket of fish, and hungry seabirds. On the right, in the distance, two men haul nets into a boat. We can interpret them either as generic fisherman or James and John, whom Christ called next. On the left is the sea and coastline. A magnificent tree unites the top and bottom of the window. Taken together, image and word make a poignant statement about the early history of Christ's ministry. We see more of Christ's ministry in other windows.

--Paula Carns, M.S., Ph.D.