Today is Feb 9, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We hear in the Gospel this Sunday, “Simon said in reply, ‘Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets'” (Lk 5:5).
What does a carpenter know about catching fish? Simon Peter had spent years of his life in and out of boats along the Sea of Galilee. He likely knew every inch of its 30 miles of shoreline. He knew its rhythms and patterns — where and when there would be fish. After all, his trade was to catch them. So when Our Lord offers a bit of fishing advice to Simon Peter, no wonder he was, to put it gently, a bit mystified!
Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” And Simon Peter politely objects, explaining there are no fish to be had. Notably, in the end he obeys.
Summed up in a few lines, this passage presents the entire course of discipleship. In his initial words to Jesus, Simon Peter refers to Jesus as “Master” meaning “teacher” or “rabbi.” He’s demonstrating respect but not yet, it would seem, that he has really grasped who Jesus is.
‘Do not be afraid’
Then, after the miraculous catch, which demonstrates Jesus’s divine authority, Peter changes his address. Humbled and profoundly aware of his sinfulness, he calls Jesus “Lord.” In recognizing who Jesus is, Peter also sees into his own heart. Embarrassed, he tells Jesus to depart from him.
Throughout Scripture, when men and women face God, they are overwhelmed by fear of him. Peter falls to his knees, like Abraham when he spoke to God or Moses at the burning bush. It would be a mistake, I think, to interpret Peter’s words as a rejection of Jesus. He isn’t pushing Jesus away. Sometimes, we ourselves might keep the Lord at a distance, being unwilling or afraid to approach him and bear our hearts to him. But as he said to Peter, so Our Lord says to us: “Do not be afraid.”
Let us pray,
Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
