Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Cor
3:18-20; Luke 5:1-11)
A boat
makes a fitting symbol of the Church. As
boats carry passengers to their destination, the Church takes its members to
God’s kingdom. Also, as a boat has
capacity for an enormous number of fish, so too the Church has room for all
peoples. Peter’s boat in today’s gospel,
therefore, can be seen as the Church.
Peter’s
great haul of fish symbolizes the Church’s success over the centuries at making
converts of individuals and nations.
However, at the moment in the western world at least the numbers of
Baptisms are reduced. Now the Church
must listen again to Jesus’ command, “Put out into the deep…” In the deep people reflect and create. So the Church will find new methods for
bringing in a great haul. Effective use
of social media is one way the Church is attracting new members. Also, the Church is organizing young people
as missionaries to tell their friends about Jesus, our Savior.
There are
many ways to evangelize, and all Christians have a role in the endeavor. We must live our faith openly and not be
intimidated by the current indifference if not disdain for Christianity. People will respond to the calls from the
Church reinforced by our positive example.
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