5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2-9-25


“There was once a successful businessman whose life seemed perfect from the outside, but deep within, he felt restless and unfulfilled. Troubled by his emptiness, he sought guidance from a wise and godly monk.                                                                                                                                                                                                   “I have everything I thought I wanted,” he confessed, “but I’m never satisfied. My life feels empty, as though something essential is missing.”                                                                                                                                                The monk listened intently and then responded with a parable: “As the fish perishes when it is removed from the water, so too do we wither when we are separated from the true purpose for which we were made. The fish must return to the water; likewise, you must return to your source — the presence of God.”                                                                                                                                                                                    The businessman’s face fell. “You mean I must abandon everything? My business, my work, my life as I know it?”                                                                                                                                                                                                    The monk smiled gently. “No, not at all. Hold onto your work but let God into your heart. Let Him guide your every step. True fulfillment comes not from what we achieve, but from what we follow.”

Just as the fishermen in today’s Gospel left everything to follow Jesus, we, too, must make God’s will our number one priority.” 1

In the Luke’s gospel this weekend, we see that Jesus has been traveling around a lot and gathering a powerful reputation.  He has a number of followers, but as the gospel tells us he was looking for some special followers who would eventually be the foundation of his church.  These followers were ordinary fishermen.  And as such they were businessmen too, only their livelihood was catching and selling fish.  In Luke’s gospel, Jesus  doesn’t just walk along the beach and invite them to follow him, no he goes out in the boats with them to fish and joins them where they work and live a good portion of their days.  He meets them, as it were, wherever they are.  And it is out on the sea, at night that the miracle happens.  They just don’t catch some fish where there were none before; they catch so many, that  their boats are about to sink!   Peter, the good fisherman that he is, knows that he is in the presence of a miracle, a miracle beyond his wildest expectation.  But standing in front of him is also his own  devaluation of himself as one unworthy of such blessing.  However, Jesus  is not deterred by Peter’s judgment of himself but rather invites him and his partners in the fishing business to follow him and he will show them things beyond even their wildest dreams.  Jesus  is not worried about Peter’s “sinfulness”.  No, Jesus sees potential in Peter, great potential,  Whereas Peter sees only failure and sinfulness.  This will be somewhat of an ongoing theme that Peter keeps trying to work out within himself.  For example, in Matthew 18:21 & ff, Peter asks Jesus  how many times he must forgive his brother, wondering if perhaps at some time, he can feel justified in not forgiving his brother.  Jesus  tells him  “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” (Matt 18:22)  Thus, Jesus  says to forgive an infinite amount of times.  Humanly, as we all know this is  very difficult for us to achieve on our own.  St. Paul realizes this in our second reading this weekend when he says “Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.  For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.” (1 Corinthians 15:9-11)  That grace of which St. Paul speaks allowed by St. Peter and St. Paul to be able to forgive themselves eventually and when they did that, then the full power of God’s grace could blossom into its fullness within each of them. 

The flowering of God’s grace within us is needed for our salvation and for the God’s kingdom to be established on the earth.  None of us may live on the earth to see the fulfillment of that kingdom, but we will witness it in Jesus  Christ, if we choose to accept his invitation to follow him.   To follow him now in this world in which live and to follow him one day into the Kingdom of God in heaven. 

“ Because we are who we are, because we are human beings, we cannot bear the notion that our lives should go unrewarded that we should not witness the success of our own efforts.    Our human nature is constantly driving us in search of fulfillment.  And Jesus is telling us today precisely where to search for a rewarding life and where such a life as that begins and ends.”2   It begins and ends with following Jesus .  We follow him within the context of our lives wherever we are, whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, free or imprisoned.  Our situation in life  matters not, for when we choose as Peter did to belong to Jesus, when we follow him; it is through Jesus  and the grace he bestows upon us that we will find the  meaning of our lives and the purposes for which we were  sent into the world. 

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” Isiah 6:8

1.         Vocings.com

2.         Ibid

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