The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, September 1, 2005
The Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Colossians 1:9-14
Psalm 98:2-6
Luke 5:1-11

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"Do not be afraid, henceforth you will be catching men." (Luke 5:10)

Today's Gospel events follow Jesus' violent eviction from His native town when speaking in their synagogue He quoted Isaiah's prophesying the coming of God's Messiah and asserting that He is its fulfillment. This was upsetting enough, but they became enraged when Jesus told them that they "the chosen," through unbelief, were excluding themselves from God's kingdom while foreigners accepting His message were being admitted.

Following this incident, He continued on to perform healing miracles and preach the good news of salvation to crowds hungering to hear God's word. At the Lake of Gennesaret, to allow the crush of people to better hear His message, He boarded Peter's fishing boat and asked him to set out a bit from the land. Concluding His talk, He instructed Peter to proceed further out and again cast out his fishing nets that had remained empty through his entire previous night of hard work. In a spontaneous act of faith, Peter obeyed and was rewarded with a catch of fish that filled two boats almost to sinking.

Astonished by this divine outpouring and seeing himself unworthy of God's generosity, Peter fell humbly at Jesus' feet but was told not to fear; for he was to become a fisher of men, sharing His good news to draw others to God's kingdom. Jesus uses Peter's act of obedience to teach him and us that faith unleashes God's power, His boundless grace
for man's good. In contrast, the faithless rejection by the Nazareans closed and bolted the door to God's saving grace.

Blessed Savior, pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may become more sensitive to Your loving Presence and faithfully respond to all Your biddings. Amen.

- Marie Bocko, OCDS
(mlbocko at earthlink dot net)