“AT YOUR COMMAND I WILL LOWER THE NETS” (Luke 5:5)
⏰Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time 2 (06 September 2018)
📖1 Cor 3:18-23; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 (R.v.1ab); Luke 5:1-11
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ ever remain and abide with you. Amen.
Nobody can really be a true disciple, no matter his/her position in the Church or in the society if he/she has not learnt to listen and follow the voice of the Lord. Jesus himself said, “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27).
Sometimes, that voice of the Lord might not appear very meaningful to us when we begin to apply human wisdom to it. Peter tried to do so when he said, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing!” (Luke 5:5a). But he was able to allow his faith to carry him beyond the place his reason stopped and so added, “But at your word I will let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:5b). That is what the Church teaches us about faith and reason.
So, when St. Paul talks about the foolishness of human wisdom (cf. 1 Cor 3:19), he was simply referring to human limitations and not an outright condemnation of human intellect. Peter discovered his own limitations after the catch and said to Jesus, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).
But Jesus was not ready to condemn him; he must have looked at him and said to him as he said to that woman with the issue of blood, “Your faith has healed you” (Mark 5:34).
Do you have as much faith in God? If you do, you have no need of fear of the future even as we journey through the scary ember months.
Again, I tell you, be calm! These so-called months shall not bring you tears but joy. The blood-sucking demons shall detest your life and no power shall be able to stop God’s blessing upon and your household at this period. You only need to trust God, the chief engineer of your life and follow the sound of his voice.
May you have an open door of God’s love and mercy, today and beyond. Amen. Peace be with you.
