Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It’s a beautiful gospel on the calling of the first four disciples, which are two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Jesus is the protagonist in this gospel. He enters the boat of one of them and he notices that they have caught nothing the night before and are discouraged, sad and tired. Jesus sees their sadness and goes out to them. Jesus always goes out to those who are broken, anxious and suffering.
There are many people in a very crowded place so Jesus gets into the boat of Peter and pushes out a little bit to the lake so he can preach. And who is in the boat with him? For sure Peter and probably the other three apostles. Jesus preaches and we’re reminded what Saint Paul says: faith comes from the preaching, from the listening, from hearing the word of God. He hears the Good News and see that Jesus has this tremendous power and so Peter goes out into the deep, he takes a risk, and the result is an amazing catch of fish. Taking a risk for God slowly transforms us.
God is not cheap when he shows his love to us, he does so in a stupendous way. The nets are bursting and the two boats are at the point of sinking. It is like the wedding feast of Cana where 180 gallons of water was changed into the best of wine. We hear that the apostles left everything and followed him, but we don’t have to go to Africa. It’s an invitation to leave our idols, our distractions, all the things that take us away from listening to Christ and receiving faith.
You see first there was the preaching and then the action. Peter hears the words of Christ and then was able to go out into the deep, to do something that seemed absolutely absurd to him. If he did not listen, then he would not have broken with his comfort, with his ideas and his plans. A ten-year-old girl said last night if I was up all night and didn’t catch anything and was told to try again, I would have said: forget about it; I’m hungry; I am going home. She understood the gospel very well. Jesus always comes when we’re discouraged, disappointed, destroyed; he doesn’t come when we go from success to success when everything is perfect. He comes for the poor ones, the ones who lack something.
He promises these apostles and us, that we will be fishers of men. Where are the fish? They’re in the sea which is a symbol of death. Today people are surrounded by death. They see no possibility for peace or joy. By giving our witness of what God has done for us, we can draw them out of the water, out of fear. Through the Church we can offer them eternal life, true joy, something that no one else can give.
