Gospel Reflection for The 5th day of September in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Luke 5:1-11
1 And it came to pass, that when the multitudes pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship. 4 Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said to him: Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. 7 And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. 8 Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. 10 And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him.
As an avid fisherman, I always enjoy such passages as this. That said, it is hard to know where this fits in the story of Jesus' ministry. The Gospels differ on what we might call the career of Saint Peter. In one he immediately confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and leaves all he has to be an Apostle. In others, he seems slow to come to this realization. Sometimes, it seems he goes back and forth between following Jesus and continuing to work as a fisherman. It really is hard to know exactly how this period of Saint Peter's life played out. After the Crucifixion, he seems to have returned to fishing. Then, the Resurrected Jesus appears to him and all of the holy Apostles, the Holy Spirit descends on them at Pentecost and the rest of his life is spent as the Vicar of Christ, the first pope.
There is always an element of inconsistency in Saint Peter before the Resurrection and the beginning of his papacy. We really only read of the details in the lives of the Apostles in Judas, who betrayed Christ, and Saint Peter, who denied Him. I think this is very significant. I think the Holy Spirit, writing through the authors, wanted to make clear that Saint Peter was just as flawed as any of us, but that we all have the choice to be a Judas or a Peter. The same is true in the story of Saint Paul. Judas lost his faith in Jesus, betrayed Him, committed suicide and presumably went to hell. Saint Peter's faith waverer or, at least, his courage did. Saint Paul found his faith miraculously. Saint Peter may have had difficulty with his faith and kept returning to the life of a fisherman. Saint Paul wrote extensively of his difficulties, his sinful nature and his afflictions. All three are presented to us as very human... and, if we are honest, we can identify just as much with the saints as the sinner.
As Saint Paul made clear, how we end the race is what matters. God will forgive us an unlimited number of times. God knows out weaknesses. Perhaps Saint Peter was finally convinced when our Lord showed him that He could bless him with so much abundance in the catch that the nets could not hold it. Maybe Saint Peter needed this real and tangible example. Very rarely does God do such miracles in our lives.... but as our Lord said to another Apostle whose faith wavered, Saint Thomas, “Blessed are those who have believed but have not seen.” That is why Judas' end was so bad – he had seen the miracles and chose not to believe. May our active faith overcome our doubting weakness!
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2024 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3ZTXQB4
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic