Thursday, February 19th, 2004 - Dad's Homily

My parents volunteer at a care center every sunday to share and spend some time with the elderly and the sick. My dad sent me an email with a recent homily, or message, and God really spoke to me through it. I would like to share it with anyone who reads this as well.

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One lesson is surely that God chooses our weak moments to show what he can do. Peter and the other fishermen were down on their luck; they were exhausted and somewhat exasperated when Jesus appeared on the scene.

They already knew Jesus. Earlier in Luke’s gospel Luke recounts how Jesus had visited Simon Peter’s house and cured his mother-in-law. So Jesus was no stranger, they knew him and they had already listened to his teaching and experienced the results of his extraordinary healing powers.

So Peter and his friends were already favorable to Jesus’ message but they surely did not expect that he would choose them to be his closest disciples, they didn’t expect to be asked to leave everything to follow Jesus.

That’s a bit like us. We too are disciples of Jesus; over a period of many years we have gone to church, listened to his teaching and from time to time have experienced his remarkable works. But we tend not to expect him to have any special task in store for us.

We believe that we are very small parts in God’s great plan. We certainly don’t think that we are key players in the divine plan for the conversion of the world. We think that God chooses other people for big tasks. We tend to feel that we are unworthy and just like Peter we often say: Leave me Lord for I am sinful.

But God does not think like us and he doesn’t leave us alone.

And at the appropriate time we will know when it is that he wants us to perform this task whatever it may be. He will give us a sign—just like he gave Peter and his friends a sign with that remarkable catch of fish.

The day will come and on that day we will just know what it is he wants us to do, it will be made clear.

The Good News of the gospel is that God does not get nervous at the news of our sinfulness. He can handle sinners. Our God is one who gives sinners a new start. The scribes and Pharisees liked to keep people prisoners of their sins but not so for Jesus. He moves Peter from professing of his sinfulness to the work that is ahead of him. It is important that we acknowledge our sinfulness but then to get up and live again - trusting not so much in our own goodness as in that of God.

Jesus’ love and mercy has no limits. When we share with others what his love and mercy has done for us, we begin to do what Christ would have us to do. When we act, speak and think towards as Christ would have us do, we will begin “catching people.”
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