Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Gospel Reading: Luke 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for Peter?  You’re in your own boat minding your own business when along comes God.  Of all the people He could pick, He picked Peter.  He climbs in his boat and now Peter has an up close and personal seat with Christ.  When Jesus is preaching to the crowd, Peter has the best seat in the house.  From this story, you know that Peter must be special.  Now Peter is also probably tired and weary.  He has been up all night fishing and hasn’t caught a thing.  He was busy putting his nets away when Jesus asks him to go out and try again.  Peter must of thought to himself, “Is this guy crazy, I’m ready to go home and go to bed and this guy wants me to dirty my nets again!”  He tells Jesus, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing!” But somehow he is touched by Jesus’ words and does as he commands. The net is lowered and becomes so full that the net is breaking at the seams. The nets were so full that Peter needed help to bring in the catch. Finally, when the catch is brought into the boats, the boats are so full that they began to sink. In his amazement, Simon falls to his knees and says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And Jesus’ replied “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.”

How often does God call us into service, yet we find excuses to ignore him.  When we encounter Christ in our lives and He asks us to be His servant, our first response is to reject his request either out of fear, insecurity or doubt. But once we abandon our fear and follow His commands, we find that our reward is more abundant than we could imagine. Our nets are full and we need help bringing in our catch. At that point, we are so excited about the catch that we do not realize that our boat is on the verge of sinking because we do not know how to handle this new fragile faith. We do not know how to handle this new found fulfillment. Our faith is so fragile. It is easy to get discouraged either because you have been overloaded or because you do not know how to handle the cross you have been given. But if you follow Christ, He will take care of you. Even though the boats were overload, they made it safely to shore.  He will make sure that your boat stays afloat even in troubled waters. The more we grow in faith; the easier it is to follow Christ. But not only must we follow Christ, we are asked to lead others to his way. We are call to be “fishers of men.”

A Simple Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, fill my heart with your compassion and love.

May I learn to use this love and compassion to lead others to you.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon