Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 3:18-23; Luke 5:1-11)
The poet Alfred Lord Tennyson captured the vigor of Greek adventurers when he wrote in the poem “Ulysses”: "Tis not too late to seek a newer world." Already an old man returned from the Trojan War, the hero is not content to sit back and die. Rather he ventures onward to accomplish new feats or to die in the attempt. Jesus instills in the fisherman of today’s gospel a similar willingness to do again what they have done before but this time against all odds.
Peter and company have ended a night's work without any fish to show for their efforts. But after hearing Jesus preach, they are not about to refute his command to try again. They go out into the deep, lower their nets, and watch in astonishment the marvelous catch of fish. Jesus then uses the incident as a parable to indicate the successful missionary efforts the fishermen will have as his disciples.
As we see once crowded churches with many empty pews today, some may become discouraged. They say that we must resign ourselves to small communities of faith. However, this is not the line we hear from Pope Benedict. He will shortly open a synod of bishops to discuss the “New Evangelization.” He knows that as much as ever the world needs to hear Jesus' goods news. Further, he believes that every committed Catholic is capable of proclaiming it to others.
