Gospel: 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 the boats 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.
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Reflection:
A middle-aged man who was newly out of prison wanted to follow Jesus. But
he would always have second thoughts if he would proceed with his desire
because he was sinful. Thus, the feeling of unworthiness always creeps into
him. However, there was always that inner voice that whispers to him to follow the Lord
no matter his sinfulness.
Who among us are worthy to become a follower
of Jesus? Nobody for all of us are sinful, all of us have offended the Lord one
way or another. Yet in spite of our unworthiness we are always being called by
Jesus to follow Him so that He can purify us of our sins no matter how dark those
sins are.
The Lord does not call us to condemn us of the
countless sins that we have committed. He calls us so that He could restore us
of our dignity which we lost through our sinfulness. He calls us to tell us
that His love for us can overcome whatever sins that we have committed.
All He want from us is our yes! When we say
yes to the Lord, we also would be willing to leave behind the environment which
made us sin. We leave behind those people who influenced us to sin. In other
words, there’s no turning back or looking back the moment we decide to follow the
Lord.
In the gospel, after Jesus performed the
miracle of the great catch of fish before the very eyes of Simon and the other
fishermen (Luke 5:6). Simon Peter kneeled before Jesus and he begged Jesus to
leave them for they were all sinful. And therefore unworthy of His presence and the miracle that
he did for them (Luke 5:8).
However, Jesus with all the love, mercy and
forgiveness in His heart told Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be
catching men (Luke 5:10).” Right after bringing their boats to the shore, Simon
and the other fishermen left everything to follow the Lord (Luke 5:11).
Regardless of your sins and your dark past Jesus
is calling you as well to begin a new life with Him. Will you heed this
call of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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