They who catch people
TODAY is Sunday, the 10th of February 2019. It is also the second Sunday for the month and is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Catholic Church liturgical and sanctoral calendar.
This Sunday’s Psalm is, “In the sight of angels I will sing your praises, Lord.”
The 1st Reading this Sunday is from Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8. It says: In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.
They were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth. All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke. I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me; his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it and said,
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!” Today’s 2nd Reading is from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you, and which you received, and on which, you stand firm. By that Gospel, you are saved, provided that you hold to it, as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.
In the first place, I have passed on to you what I, myself, received: that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scripture; that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve. Afterwards, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then he appeared to James, and after that, to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to the most despicable of them, this is, to me. For I am the last of the apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although, not I, rather the grace of God, in me.
Now, whether it was I or they, this, we preach, and this, you have believed.
This Sunday’s Gospel is from Luke 5:1-11. It says: One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat, and continued to teach the crowd.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch..” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.
Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.
READ: Isaiah recalls his first answer to God’s call: “Here I am. Send me!” St. Paul, thanks God that he too, despite his sins, was called by Christ, to be an apostle. Simon Peter, despite his own sins, receives Christ’s call, and follows.
REFLECT: Jesus can call any disciples he likes. Surely he could do better than us. But he called Simon, even though he knew he was “a sinful man.” He did not demand that Simon become a better man before he was qualified to follow. Jesus welcomed and called him just as he was. It was the same for Paul. It is the same for us. We just have to overcome our fears and accept the invitation. God’s grace can make up for whatever we are lacking.