Fifth
Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Lk 5:1-11]
09.02.2025
The
Call and
1. Theme in brief
Trusting in God’s word amidst failures in our mission
2.
Focus Statement
In spite of our unworthiness,
Jesus calls us and sends us to continue his mission of bringing or gathering people
into the ‘net’ of God’s Kingdom by trusting fully in the power of his Word.
Explanation of
the text
In Luke’s gospel we observe Jesus
beginning his public ministry, not with the call of the disciples, but with the
announcement of his manifesto at the synagogue of
According to the given text, while standing beside the lake, Jesus saw
fishermen washing their nets after their unsuccessful attempt to catch fish
whole night. At that time he got into Simon’s boat and began to preach, using
it as a sort of makeshift ’pulpit’ (5:2-3). When he had finished his preaching,
he commanded Simon to cast his net into the deep water for a catch (5:4).
Simon had all the reasons to object. Their whole night’s labour to
catch fish had ended in utter failure (5:5). Hence, he thought it was futile and a waste of time to try again. After all, he was an expert fisherman and Jesus was only a carpenter by trade. He might have
thought: What do carpenters know about fishing?
Secondly, it was a well-known fact that in that particular lake fish was
caught at night in the shallow water, not during the
day in the deep water. Thirdly, he and his companions must have been terribly tired after the toil of whole night and were already washing their nets to
dry them up and go home (5:2). Logically speaking, it was useless to try because another failure was
certain. Yet he obeyed and tried. Surely, it was not reason that prompted him to follow the advice of a carpenter, but his trust in
his divine powers. He obeyed only because it was Jesus who commanded. If it was
anybody else he would not have obeyed (5:5). It was his obedience based on faith or trust in the word of Jesus that resulted
in such a miraculous catch of fish. When he witnessed this net-breaking and boat-sinking miracle (5:6-7) his
eyes of faith were opened and falling down at Jesus’ knees he addressed him as “the Lord” for the first time (5:8).
As a seasoned fisherman, until now, Simon had trusted and relied on his abilities and talents. When he came face to
face with the divinity of Christ, he realized his own sinfulness, nothingness or insignificance. His natural reaction was one of unworthiness – a common feature found in other biblical ‘call-narratives’ also.
Until now Jesus was only a “Master” (5:5) for him and his name was Simon. Now he became “Peter” (= rock) and saw Jesus
as “the Lord”, and himself as a sinful man standing before a
holy man (5:8). Instead of departing from sinners as Peter wished (5:8),
Jesus included sinners also like him to be partners in his mission. He told him not to be afraid of his inadequacy and entrusted him
with a mission: to “catch people” into the ‘net’ of God’s Kingdom (5:10). That is why in Matthew’s gospel Jesus says:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea
and caught fish of every kind” (Mt 13:47).
Jesus expresses his disciples’ mission in metaphorical terms – to be
“fishers of people”. Jesus gave Peter and his companions the task of gathering not fish but people into God’s ‘net’ that gathers sinners
into a community of love. Since their task was changed from catching fish in
their nets to catching people in a new ‘net,’ they had to renounce their material nets and occupation in order to fulfil their mission.
Hence, they left everything – work, family and their whole past life as
fishermen and followed Jesus in his footsteps (5:11). This shows that Christian
discipleship involves a willingness to sacrifice everything or to be detached from all other ties in order to be
personally attached to the Lord. Now Jesus himself
became the fisherman who succeeded in bringing his first catch (Simon Peter and
his companions) into his ‘net.’
Today’s gospel leads us to reflect on the five aspects of our baptismal call and mission:
1) Disappointments and
frustrations in our mission: Many of us find situations in life that are parallel
to those of the first disciples of Jesus when we do not get the desired result
of our earnest efforts. We are toiling
all night and are trying so hard but are catching nothing. We try so hard to come
out of an addiction, resentment, unforgiving attitude, negative mind-set, bad
habits or habitual sins but do not succeed. We have tried so many times to
bring changes in our family relationships, in our children, in our
communities, and solve our problems but without any visible result. We pray to
God to change our situation or save us from calamities, but when it does not
happen we give up prayer out of frustration. It is during these moments of
painful and humiliating failures, Jesus asks us to take
the risk of faith by trusting in the power of his word, just as he asked Simon Peter. One of the characteristics
of a disciple is obedience to Jesus’ word. Just as
Simon Peter moved from trust in his own capabilities and strength to
trust in the Lord’s word, we too are called to do the same in our ministry even
when initially our efforts seem to be a waste of time or foolish. When things
go against our calculations, Jesus invites us to
obedience of faith and trust in the power of his word.
Like Simon Peter we have to overcome two obstacles to obedient faith:
(1) Self-trust and (2) rationalism. Today, this miracle has to take place in our hearts and in our
decisions as we take risks to leave the security of our selfish lives and
venture into the service of the needy. The question is whether we are willing
to sacrifice our comforts and take risks; and whether we trust in the power of God’s word even when there is no
immediate success of our efforts and nothing seems to change. Secondly, Simon’s
obedience was based not on reason but purely on faith.
Though as a seasoned fisherman Peter knew night time was the most favourable
time for fishing, he was willing to cast his net at daytime against all
reasoning because of his trust. As disciples of Christ, we are invited to try
again and again when we face failures, because what seems to be impossible to
achieve as per human calculations becomes possible by trusting in God’s word.
Today’s gospel tells us that in spite of failures we should never stop
trying and never give up. When we are tempted to
give up prayer or to fall back into the same old habits again and again we
should listen to Jesus’ word: I say to you, now once again cast your net.
Success in the midst of a long night’s failures comes only when we rely on Jesus’ power and obey his command. Those who feel self-sufficient are bound to fail. Though Peter was tired after the
whole night’s hard work and getting ready to return home, if Jesus asked to try
again he was prepared to do so. There is a tendency in many of us to give up
any new initiative too soon if there are no immediate
results. Today Jesus calls us to a higher level of commitment, perseverance and endurance in our initiatives and
new ventures as well as in our efforts to bring about personal or social
transformation.
2) Invitation to go deeper: Our mission is to leave the safety of the shore and take the risk of putting out our nets into the deep
water. The deep water may symbolize: (1) the abyss from which people must
be saved; and (2) the risks involved in doing so. Often our
commitments are superficial. We do not want to take
risks and leave the security of the shore. It is easy to fish in shallow water close to the shore because there is hardly any danger there – neither
of facing strong currents nor of getting drowned. The Lord invites us to go deeper into human relationships, service of the downtrodden, care of the sick
and the suffering, reconciliation with someone we refuse to speak for years, etc.,
by trusting in his word. He sends us to draw people out of the abyss of sin, evil, ignorance, sickness and bondage and gather them into a
community of love, fellowship, peace and harmony. He also asks us to venture
into those areas of our mission where we meet opposition and criticism for
uplifting and educating the poor and the downtrodden. Even in those situations
where we meet failure, rejection and lack of response,
he asks us to try again and go a little deeper.
3) Our vocation to be fishers of
people:
Today Jesus once again calls and sends us with the ‘net’ of God’s Kingdom. We
need to respond to his call as his first disciples did and commit ourselves to
the task of becoming “fishers of people” – the task of saving
them from sin and evil. Through our ‘fishing’ activity
(that is, our mission work), he wants to gather all the scattered children of
God; unite people so deeply divided on account of sin into a community of love; invite people to be free from all sorts of bondages so that they might be saved; to care for people; and to bring them
closer to God. This is what is meant by becoming “fishers of people.” Today the
Lord continues to call us to do mission work not in a distant land or country,
but in a far smaller way in our own situation – baby-sitting for a busy mother,
arranging a meeting place, joining the choir party, visiting a sick person,
sharing one’s personal thing with the needy, calling someone who we know is
lonely, doing something kind and helpful for someone with whom we don’t get
along or who has wronged us, offering our help in the kitchen or garden,
visiting the local prison with some gifts for the prisoners, etc. Those who are
not called for a full-time mission work like priests and Religious can do it with
so many deeds of mercy.
4) A sense of
unworthiness to do our mission: Peter begged Jesus to depart from him when he realized
his own unworthiness to receive such abundance of blessings (symbolized by a huge haul of fish) because of his sinfulness. Those of us who think we are not worthy to do God’s work because of
personal weaknesses, guilt feelings or bad record of the past
should know that he chooses even weak and unfit persons to be his instruments
of justice, mercy, love and peace. His purpose for us is not dependent on our
worthiness. It is said: “God does not call the qualified but he qualifies those whom he calls.” As he told Peter, he tells us again and again not
to be afraid. What could have been the fear of his first disciples? The fear of
(1) leaving their boats and jobs because they had responsibilities towards their families;
(2) starting an entirely new career; (3) venturing into an unknown future; (4) their own inadequacy and unworthiness because
of their sinfulness. Jesus must have told them: Don’t you know that I came to
call not the righteous but sinners like you (Lk 5:32)? Like the first
disciples, in spite of our unworthiness, Jesus continues to commission us, and
expects an immediate response. Instead of falling on
our knees as Peter did at the tremendous mystery of God’s presence in
humility and wonder, we prefer to worship at the altar of business and work,
science and industry, machines and technology, power and success, name and
fame. When these things
become our gods we will be left with no anchor to hold on when all our dreams
are shattered!
5) Sacrifice and renunciation as
requirements to fulfill our mission: In order to fulfil this mission or
to be faithful to it we are called to leave the very things in which we put our
full trust, our safety and security. The story of today’s gospel begins with
the crowd pressing in on Jesus to listen to his word, but the would-be
disciples keeping themselves busy in their daily occupation like catching
fish and doing business. But it ends with a reversal of roles: these busy men leaving everything to follow Jesus. What about us? Can we try for a
game-changer that leads to a turning-point in our life?
4.
Response to God's Word
During our moments of painful and humiliating failures, do we take the
risk of faith by trusting in the power of his word? Do self-trust and
rationalism become obstacles for our obedient faith? Do we give up our efforts
for personal and social transformation when we do not get immediate result? Do
we trust in the power of God’s word even when nothing seems to change? Are our
commitments superficial or deep? How can we respond to Christ’s call to become
fishers of people in our situation, especially through works of mercy? Are we
willing to sacrifice a little bit of our comforts, safety and security to
fulfil Christ’s mission?
5.
A prayer
Thank you, Lord, for calling me to participate in your mission of
gathering people into a community of love and fellowship in spite of my
unworthiness. Here am I, Lord. Make me a worthy instrument of your mercy.
Increase my trust in the power of your holy word so that I may hold on to you
firmly when everything else fails. Amen.
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