FISHERS OF PEOPLE

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

September 2, Thursday

      The background of today’s message to the Colossians is that gnostical tendencies are creeping in, promising a superior human knowledge even of divine mysteries. Hence the prayer of Paul that his Colossians may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will, with wisdom and understanding coming from God’s Spirit.

      Simon Peter and his companions were amazed that an outsider could tell them where to catch plenty of fish when they, fishermen by profession, had been unsuccessful. This man with a striking message was indeed extraordinary. They were caught in his spell and followed him. Later, they would put out into deep water, that is, they would risk and dedicate their life for Jesus and “catch people” to put them in the spell of Jesus’ message and life.

 

First Reading: Colossians 1:9-14

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

 

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd.

When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.”

Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch.

Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. “Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.” When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons, coworkers with Simon.

Jesus said to Simon, “There is nothing to fear. From now on you’ll be fishing for men and women.” They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

 

Prayer

Holy God of our happiness,
you entrust your good news of life
to weak and fallible people.
Fill us with the strength of your Holy Spirit,
that we may be ready to speak your message
with the language of our life.
Let Jesus your Son work with us and in us,
that each of us may have the courage to say:
Here I am, Lord, send me as your messenger
to share your glad tidings of happiness
with all who are willing to listen.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Put out to the deep

The episode of the call of the first three apostles takes place on the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret. Jesus goes into the boat of Peter, asks him to put out a little off the ground, sits down and begins to teach the people. The intension of the evangelist by creating this scene is to transmit a theological message. It is not only during the liturgy on Saturday and in the environments and places of worship that Jesus proclaims the Word of God. He proclaims in all contexts. He meets people where they are at work. Jesus wants the gospel to be shared with people in their actual life situations. Jesus sits in Peter’s boat. The symbolism is obvious: the boat represents the Christian community. On the boat, there are no exceptional, holy, perfect people! There are good people, but also sinful. However, despite being occupied by sinners, it is from this boat that the Word of God is proclaimed. Action follows the proclamation of the Word. On the orders of the Master, the disciples are invited to cast their nets for a catch. It is the Christian community who, animated by the Gospel message, is dispersed through the streets of the world to carry out its mission ‘to put out to the deep for a catch’. Peter is not convinced. His experience tells him that it is not the appropriate time to fish. Human logic would suggest him to give up, but he trusts, he prefers to obey. Many times, this is also the experience of people who are involved in preaching the Gospel. In spite of the best efforts, we might feel frustrated that we have no results! Gospel reminds us just have trust. After the miraculous catch, Simon throws himself at Jesus’ knees and declares his own unworthiness: “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” It’s the way the Bible tells of the encounter of different people with the Lord: Moses covered his face because he was afraid (Ex 3:6); Elijah covered his face with his mantle (1 K 19:13). Now, Peter also feels sinful and confesses his unworthiness. This brings us to the central theme of the passage (vv. 10b-11). The main reason why Luke recounts the episode is to make it clear to the disciples of his community about the mission to which they are called: to be fishers of people. In the Bible, the waters of the sea are a symbol of the powers of evil, the forces that lead to death. The mission of the Church is to pull out the people of their hopeless condition of being engulfed by violence and hatred, war, moral corruption – all the powers of evil that destroys God’s beautiful creation. We are called to be ready without doubts to “fish at midday” when the Teacher asks for it.

 

Video available on Youtube: Put out to the deep