Chapter 2 - The Chosen
We walked along the banks of the Jordan River to the city of Capernaum. During the whole trip I was unable to fish. I ate birds and rats. When we arrived in Capernaum, we found some young men fishing. I am sure I saw one of them on the day Jesus was baptized. But if I could not fish, how could they fish with a net? And they could not.
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.(Luke 5:1-11)¹
"Meow!"
"Excuse me, Théo! Peter, can my friend have a fish?"
"Sure." Peter gave me a fish.
"Meow!" What a delicious fish. It wasn’t an ordinary fish. I wanted to take one to Mary, but it would spoil if I put it in Jesus’ bag.
"Why are you looking at my bag? Do you want something?"
"Mee!..." I tried to say no.
"Did you want to take a fish to my mother?"
"Meow!"
"Oh! You take everything you like to her. Do you know what she does?" I stared at him. "She gives it to me. And yes, this is the most delicious fish I’ve ever eaten."
"Master, does he always accompany you?"
"Yes, he showed up at my father’s carpentry shop a few years ago. And ever since my father died, he hasn’t left my side. He loves fishing, hunting and playing. But this is the first time he’s been away from my mother for so long time."
"They say that cats change owners, not houses."
"I believe he feels at home with me."
"Meow!" The other cats would never have left Nazareth. But I wanted the company of Jesus, Mary and Joseph more than my little box of sawdust.
"Master, this is my wife Eden²."
"Nice to meet you!"
"Master, welcome to our home."
"Thank you! My friend, can you stay too?"
"Of course!"
The next day…
We walked through the streets of Capernaum. Jesus, Peter, Andrew, John and James. And we met Magdalene, Judas Thaddeus, James (uncle of the other James) and Matthew. Matthew had a bigger house and invited us to dinner. In his house there was a dog:
"Woof!" I ran into Jesus’ lap.
"Theo, have you never seen a dog?" No, I thought.
"Master, do you want me to take him to my room."
"If it’s not too much trouble…" Matthew picked me up and left me in his room. I felt safe. No dogs there.
From now on you will read a conversation between cats
"You, who are the famous one?" I looked back at a beautiful cat.
"Theophilus, but they call me Theo. And you, miss?"
"Cleopatra, but they call me Cleo. Why are you in Matthew’ room?"
"He brought me because I was scared by the dog."
"Ah! It doesn’t like cats. But Matthew has a good heart. Do you want food?"
"Thank you, I had time to eat before the dog showed up." She took me to the window where we could see the banquet.
"Those girls are very beautiful."
"The tallest one is Magdalene and the other is Eden, Peter’s wife."
"The one next to her?"
"Yes. And next to him is Jesus. My master."
"Where did you come from?"
"Nazareth."
"And is it very sunny there?"
"We spent forty days in the desert."
"And what did you eat?"
"Mice and doves."
"And the master."
"Nothing. Did you fast."
"Fast, like Queen Esther?"
"We can say that."
"Do you want to play?"
"Yes."
The next day...
I woke up and was at Peter's house. It was very busy. Eden asked me:
"Did you sleep well?"
"Meow!" She gave me a bowl of milk.
"Take everything, because you're going to travel and find the master's mother."
"Meow!" Let's find Mary, how wonderful.
"Matthew said he's going to take Cleopatra."
"Meow!"
*Do you know her?"
"Meow!" I put two paws on my chest.
"Is it a cat?"
"Meow!"
"Good. It’s not good to be alone." I thought: I’m not alone, I’m with Jesus.
Epigraph from Peter
It is rare to see cats among the Jews. A pet cat, then… But what impressed me most about the teacher was the way he explained things. In a simple way that anyone can understand. If I had never been in a synagogue, I would have understood everything he said. Of course, the fact that the fish appeared and he called the tax collector to follow him impressed me. But his simplicity caught my attention the most. When Andrew told me that John explained that what they saw at the moment of baptism was the Holy Spirit, I really wanted to see it too. Will I ever see it? But for now, pray for our trip. We will go to Cana and Eden will stay at home with her mother, just the two of them.
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¹Accessed on March 20, 2025: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PWO.HTM.
²The Bible does not have a name for Peter's wife, but in the series The Chosen she is called Eden. So I will use the same name.
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