Gospel Reflections
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
9 February 2025, Church Year C
Trusting Jesus
Luke 5:1-11
Msgr. Paul deLadurantaye
Reprinted by permission of "The Arlington Catholic Herald"
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The scene recorded in St. Luke’s gospel of Jesus getting
into Peter’s
boat, the miraculous catch of fish and the commissioning of his
first disciples
that follows, takes place near the beginning of the Lord’s
public ministry in
Galilee. In these
events, we can notice
various stages of discipleship that form a pattern for all of us
to reflect
upon.
First, there is a situation of need.
Peter and those with him were experienced fishermen, but
they “had
worked hard all night and caught nothing.”
We can imagine their frustration and disappointment about
losing a day
of their livelihood: no fish meant no income.
At times, we too can experience a similar frustration –
all our efforts
and hard work seemingly bear no fruit; nothing we do appears to
work out the
way we had hoped or planned or wanted.
These can be dangerous moments because they can give rise
to bitterness,
anger and resentment.
Yet, Jesus enters into the midst of that difficult
situation and invites
Peter and his companions to trust him.
Here us a second stage of discipleship: placing our trust
in the Lord who
calls us, as he did Peter, to “put out into the deep.” We are currently
celebrating a Jubilee Year
in the life of the church, but 25 years ago St. John Paul II
used Jesus’ words
as the theme for the jubilee that marked the beginning of the
third Christian
millennium: “Duc in altum!” Put out into the deep!
When Christ said this to Peter, his words must have
sounded naïve and
foolish to a professional fisherman who knew that the best time
for catching fish
was at night in shallow water, not in broad daylight in deep
water. Yet, Peter
trusted Jesus: he opened his heart
and mind to the words of the Lord, even if those words seemed to
make little
sense. “At your
command I will lower the
nets.” Do we do the
same? Do we have
the confidence that if we do as
the Lord asks, at every moment, we will be strengthened and
renewed in faith,
hope, and love? When
we welcome Jesus
into the boat of our lives, we become capable of putting out
into the deep with
courage and never giving up.
Later in
his public life and ministry Jesus will tell his followers that
fear is
useless; what is needed is trust.
If we
are to be genuine disciples, then we also should be prepared to
take a risk, to
trust that God has our best interests at heart and that he can
always bring
good out of any circumstances, even the most challenging ones.
In responding to our needs, however, the Lord usually
exceeds our expectations. Then
comes a third stage of discipleship: the
awareness of our sinfulness before God’s goodness and
generosity. “They
caught a great number of fish,” so many
that their nets were on the point off breaking.
Peter’s reaction to this miraculous catch of fish was to
fall at Jesus’
knees – an act of adoration – and confess, “I am a sinful man.” When we encounter the
grace and holiness of
God, we also acknowledge that we are not worthy of such a gift. In fact, we make this
admission at every Mass
right before we receive Holy Communion: “Lord, I am not worthy
that you should
enter under my roof.” Yet,
Jesus
immediately told Peter, just as he tells us, “Do not be afraid.” Despite our
weaknesses, failures and sins,
Jesus remains close to us, constantly demonstrating his mercy,
and all we must
do is recognize our need for it, confess our sins and receive
the Lord’s
forgiveness that makes us whole and unafraid to live our faith
in the church
and in the world.
Finally, Peter and those with him receive a mission. They go from being
fishermen to being
disciples: “from now on you will be catching men.” They have a new job:
to testify to their
experience of Jesus and the Good News that he preached. In the Gospels, the
Lord never called someone
to follow him without giving that person a mission. It is the same with
us. Pope Francis
has reminded us that we are to
be missionary disciples. Our
call is to
proclaim through our words, actions and way of life, the joy
that comes from
saying “yes” to Jesus, to recognize his presence in every
situation, trust his
saving words, admit our need for his mercy, and make him known
more and more to
all our brothers and sisters.
If we do
this well, with God’s help, then not only can we bear good and
faithful witness
to Christ, but we can also be a light for others, bringing our
neighbors to Jesus
and Jesus to our neighbors.