Gospel & Reflection for the Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time.
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
Reflection
Friends, at the height of World War II, from the many world leaders, three were dominant. Imagine if we knew nothing about these three leaders but were given only just some basic facts about their personal lives and had then been asked to choose the leader we felt best for the job at that time. Whom might we have chosen?
The first leader was known to associate with crooked politicians. He consulted astrologers and had two mistresses. He was severely disabled, was a chain smoker, and drank between eight and ten martinis a day! The second was kicked out of political office twice. He used opium while in university and slept until noon most days. He was an undiagnosed manic depressive and drank a bottle of whiskey every day. The third was much more impressive. He was a decorated war hero. He was a vegetarian and did not smoke or drink, except for the occasional beer. He never had an extramarital affair. So, who sounds like the best leader? Whom would we have chosen?
Well, the first candidate was of course Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of America from 1933 – 1945. The second was Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister from 1940-45 and 1951-55. The third was Adolf Hitler. When it comes to human nature, you just can never tell who will eventually rise to the occasion, rise above their limitations and do right, and who might sink further than you ever thought possible, and do bad.
In today’s Gospel we have the story of Jesus calling the first disciples who were fishermen. He calls them to leave behind their boats and nets and to join Him in catching not fish but people. We know little about most of the apostles and what we do know is not impressive. They often failed to understand what Jesus was teaching them and telling them. They regularly argued among themselves about which of them was the best and yet, when they were needed the most, they were no where to be found. They betrayed the Lord, abandoned Him, denied Him, and were no where near the Cross when He died.
We can rightly ask: Could Jesus have chosen better? Should He have known the type of people He was choosing?
Well, the first disciples were far from perfect. They were awkward, brash, and fearful. Yet, they were the ones chosen; they were ones called. It was they who were asked to put out into deep waters – to go beyond what came natural to them, go beyond everything that gave them employment, security, and purpose. They were called to be instinctively courageous and to do something extraordinary, and they responded as best as they could despite their faults and failings. In the end, they did not leave the Lord down. They rose to the challenge, putting out into even deeper, unknown, and dangerous waters, and gave their lives for Christ. They did so in the end because they learned to rely on God and not themselves and through God, they rose above their limitations.
So also did the Prophet Isaiah. He told God exactly the type of man he was and how unworthy he was. Still, God called him. “Whom shall I send? Who will be my messenger?” Isaiah rises above his doubts and answers: “Here I am, send me.” St. Paul was the same. He describes himself as the most unworthy of anyone to be called an apostle and yet, by God’s grace, that is what he was, and in the end, he was a great one. God knew the truth and courage of all their lives to do what He called them to do, and to be who He called them to be.
Friends, every one of us have been chosen and called too. Chosen to be a child of God and called to be an apostle, to make God known in what we say and do. In doing so, God knows us all intimately and therefore knows exactly the people that we are. He knows the truth of us but believes always that we are capable of even more and challenges us to realise it.
He knows that He asks a great deal of us, too much at times. But it is only ever too much if we rely solely on ourselves, only ever too much if we do not even try. So, let us place our trust in the Lord and with His grace, let us rise to the challenge of discipleship. The challenge not to be afraid to do what God calls us to do and to be who God calls us to be.
Fr. Richard
