February 10^th. FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

Gospel                             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.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

The Gospel tells how Peter worked all night and achieved nothing, but then, at the Lord’s command, caught a great haul of fish. Peter kneels before Jesus and says “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”. The real miracle in this story is not the catch of fish, but the encounter between Peter and Jesus in this moment when Peter recognizes his unworthiness to be called by Jesus. All of us are unworthy of God’s call, but we continue to convince ourselves that we have something to offer God that God needs and couldn’t manage without. We must recognize that God calls us and loves us despite our complete unworthiness. We need to place ourselves before God in a similar state as Peter did. Only then will we be able to put out into the deep water and achieve remarkable things with the Lord.

Jesus does not call us because we are worthy. He calls us because he loves us

When Peter discovers that he has caught more fish than he ever could have imagined, he kneels before Jesus and says, “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Of course, Peter is only telling Jesus something that Jesus already knew. This is how Luke in his Gospel describes the call of Peter. Peter seems to think that Jesus calls him because he doesn’t know what he is really like, and if he did know what Peter was really like, he never would have called him. But it is not the case that Jesus calls people because he doesn’t know what they’re like, and neither is it the case that Jesus only calls people who are “worthy” to be called. The fact is that Jesus knows exactly what we are like, and none of us are worthy to be called. The Lord does not call us because we deserve to be called; he calls us because he loves us. He calls us, he brings us with him, he gives us the sacraments, the Christian way of life, the gift of faith, the virtues, the proclamation of the Good News, and many other gifts. He bestows these riches on us because he loves us, not because we are free from sin. The human being has a dream of being autonomous, of standing on a par with God. It is difficult to stand before someone who knows exactly who you are, and to be accepted by that person even though you are completely unworthy. At the beginning of the liturgy, we publicly recall our unworthiness to celebrate the sacred mysteries. The only one who is “worthy” to enter into the celebration is the one who recalls his own poverty. It is only when Peter falls on his knees and confesses his poverty that he is in the right condition to be called. It is not the miraculous catch of fish that calls Peter to follow Jesus. The real miracle happens in the moment that Peter recognizes his own lowly state.

It is not what we have to offer God that is important. It is the gratuitous  love of God that is central

There is something absolutely essential here. In the Christian life, it is not our capabilities that are of central importance. In fact, our abilities can be a great obstacle to progress, because they make us think that we can be the protagonists of our own Christian vocation. It is the work of God that we are talking about, and this work must be accomplished by Him, not by us. In the encounter of Peter with Jesus, we see that there is something completely gratuitous involved. None of us are worthy of this encounter, so let us stop thinking that we can merit it! When we go to someone’s house, we bring a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates, because we don’t want to present ourselves empty-handed, unworthy of hospitality. But with God, let us stop trying to present ourselves as if we merited the encounter. We cannot give anything to God that he doesn’t already have. Let him take us poor as we are.

Let us put out into deep water with the Lord!

Where does love of God begin? Where does true obedience to God find its origin? In the experience of a love that is completely unmerited and gratuitous. It is Christ who loves us and accepts us just as we are. It is Christ who brings his works to fruition in us. How boring it can be to meet Christians who speak only about themselves, what they did, and what they didn’t do. As the Gospel of Matthew says, if something is a genuine work of God then it will give glory to Him. When people see our good works, they naturally give glory to Our Father in Heaven. During the Great Jubilee, Blessed John Paul II said, “Put out into the deep water! Open yourselves to the greatness of God!” In other words, do not let your lives be a thing of mediocrity. Broaden your heart, as the psalm says. Instead, all of us tend to spare ourselves to the utmost. We do the minimum, with the minimum risk to ourselves. We do not put out into the deep water, because we think we are incapable. But none of us are capable if we try to depend on our own abilities. Instead, let us put out into deep water with the Lord.

When we place ourselves humbly before God, he can take our insufficiencies and achieve great things

In the remarkable Gospel that is presented to us this Sunday, we see what can be achieved when we place ourselves humbly before God. Peter is asked to do something that doesn’t make any sense to him. He has worked all night and caught nothing. But upon Jesus word he tries again, and then he discovers that he is loved, poor though he may be. Peter has encountered someone who loves the insufficient, and who is capable of taking them out into the deep water and achieving great things. The Old Testament speaks of the Lord taking one who is miserable, raising him, and making him stand among princes. Let us all put out into deep water! You might reply, “I am afraid!” but this is only because you are looking at yourself. If you focus on yourself then you can’t help being afraid, but if you make God your focus then it is a different story.