Today’s
Gospel Text:
While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was
standing by the lake of Gennes'aret. 2 And
he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were
washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the
boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And
he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And
when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and
let down your nets for a catch." 5 And
Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your
word I will let down the nets." 6 And
when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets
were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their
partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both
the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But
when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For
he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they
had taken; 10 and so also were James and
John, sons of Zeb'edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon,
"Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought
their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11
Reflection: The letter to the Hebrews defines
faith thus; “Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Heb 11:1
Maybe modern fishing methods, with sophisticated
trawlers, equipped with modern gadgets and GPRS have changed the way they fish but the
primitive fishing business, still practiced in most parts of the world, is like
working with the same mystery as faith. You do not see what you are about to
receive and yet you step out in faith.
You drop your nets in the water and may either
get a great catch or in extreme situations absolutely nothing. It is in faith
that the net is dropped into the water, sometimes taking into consideration the
favorable factors and yet a fisherman may catch nothing at all.
The only thing that the fisherman knows is that
there maybe seasons when he will, with all the trying will get his rich haul of
fish.
Here in the gospel faith meets superior faith,
faith in the fishing nets to faith in the Word of the master: “"Master,
we toiled all night and took nothing! But at
your word I will let down the nets." Vs. 5
To trust in the Lord’s
word is like looking at the blank waters and casting your net and lo and behold,
there is a great catch.
But do not forget to wait
and wait for his word!
Prayer: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I
hope; my
soul waits for the Lord, more than
watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Ps 130:5-6
DD = Dedicated
Discipleship: Come grow
in the Lord with us
