Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 3:18-23; Luke 5:1-11)
After Jesus has taught the crowds, he asks Peter to take his
boat into deep water to catch fish.
Peter hesitantly says, “’Master, we have worked hard all night…’” Yet he
complies with the command. His obedience
results, of course, is a tremendous catch.
Then Peter addresses Jesus again.
He no longer calls him “master” (that is, teacher). Now he recognizes Jesus as we do today. “Lord…,” he says.
As Jesus’ title has changed, so does Peter and companions’
profession. Jesus tells them that they
will no longer be catching fish but catching men. The new line of work will cost them
plenty. The passage reads that they left
everything to follow Jesus.
Is Jesus calling us to a similar sacrifice? We are used to thinking that such complete
surrender was reserved for religious.
However, Vatican II emphasized that all Christians are called to
holiness. We may not leave our homes to
follow Jesus. Nevertheless, our priority
in life should change. From seeking what
is best for “me”, we seek to do God’s will.
We carefully discern what that means for us as individuals. It will probably seem daunting at first but
like the fishermen in the gospel, obedience brings a tremendous dividend.
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