5 Sept. 2013. Thursday of the 22nd Week

Col 1:9ff. Paul prays that we may endure whatever may come, since we are rescued from the power of darkness.

Lk 5:1ff. After a miraculous catch of fish, Jesus calls Peter and the two brothers, James and John, to leave all and follow him.

First Reading: Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully

giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Counting our Blessings

Today’s Scripture sanctifies the normal duties and works of daily life by calling on us to be innerly transformed by faith as we perform them and to reach beyond them by a sense of God’s marvellous power in our lives. We are to consecrate the natural forms of life – employment, study, health-care, eating and drinking, marriage and family – by following a deeply personal call from Jesus. Another way of expressing this same idea would be: while doing our best, Jesus calls us to a “new” and still “better” way of performing the same actions.

But sometimes our success can be our undoing. More people are hurt by success than they are by failure. Like Simon Peter on the catch of a large number of fish, we too need help and advice at times of material and spiritual success. Paul in First Corinthians sums up the attitude that will save us from the pitfalls of success: Let there be no boasting and no name dropping like, “I am of Paul or of Apollos or of Cephas.” We ought to be honestly aware of our blessings – for “all these things are yours,” but we also remember: you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.