February 7, 2010

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Rev. P. Del Staigers

Isa 6:1-2, 3-8       X       1 Cor 15:1-11        X         Lk 5:1-11

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It can become very easy for us to assume that the disciples of Jesus “had it all figured out.”  We are tempted to believe that the disciples, having walked and worked with Jesus, understood his message and what it meant for each of them.  It is through accounts like the one we hear today that our own assumptions and projections are challenged, leading us to deeper faith.

 

The Lake of Gennesaret is site where the disciples have one of those encounters through which they are given the opportunity to examine how their lives intersect with the teaching of Christ.

 

Jesus, Luke tells us, sees two boats.  He commandeers one of them to use has his pulpit, teaching the crowds who were a short distance aware on the shore.  Though we do not know what he said, we do know that he was teaching all who would listen about the Kingdom of God.

 

With nets that had just been washed, Jesus tells Simon to put the nets into deep water.  In his first appearance in Luke’s Gospel, Simon tries to reason with Jesus (not only because they had fished all night, but because cleaning nets is no easy job):  “Master, we have been hard at work all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”  And miracle of miracles, they caught so many fish that their nets were tearing.  Just to make sure we get the point of how many fish were caught, Luke tells us that the boats were in danger of sinking.  This was a haul!

 

We, like Simon, often rely on the “great hauls” and “big catches” in life to understand God’s action in our lives.  Well-connected is the person who sees Christ in his or her midst when then nets are empty, or the rewards of labor are few.

 

Helen Keller became blind and deaf in early childhood.  She inspired millions by her wisdom and achievements.  She once said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

 

Readjusting our expectations, seeing that small tasks are our greatest accomplishments, is our greatest growth in the journey toward holiness.  Seeing our specific all from God, putting aside fear, and being willing to attract others for Christ, is the mission which we all share.

 

Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a convert to Catholicism, and is in the process of canonization.  Part of the reason his holiness is recognized is due to his trust in God, even when things did not seem to clear in his life.  Cardinal Newman once reflected:

 

 

God has created me to do Him some definite service.

He has committed some work to me

which he has not committed to another.

I have a mission.

I may never know it in this life

but I shall be told it in the next.

Therefore I will trust Him.

If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain.

He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends.

He may throw me among strangers.

He may make me feel desolate,

make my spirits sink,

hide my future from me--

still He knows what He is about.*

 

How do we react when we are confronted with the Holy?  Have our ideas about how God acts in our lives become so rigid and narrow that we are no longer aware of the ways in which God is choosing to act?  Are we still willing to be taught by Christ?  So we only see the Lord in our life when the nets are full, or are we attuned to God’s presence even when the nets are empty?

 

We are both comforted and challenged by the truth that God knows what He is about.

 

 

 

© Rev. P. Del Staigers, 2010

 

 

*Admittedly, the prayer of Cardinal Newman may be too lengthy for preaching.  I have included it in its entirety so that you can see the context of whatever you may choose for preaching.