Luke 5: 2, 4 – 6, 8
Jesus saw two boats
lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and
were washing their nets . . . He said to Peter, “Put out into the deep water
and let down your nets for a catch.”
Peter answered and said, “Master, we have worked hard all night and
caught nothing, but I will do as you say and lower my net one more time.” When
they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets were
filled to capacity.
*
“Master,
we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but I will do as you say
and lower my net one more time.”
Saint
Peter must have been pretty discouraged and depressed. He and his crew had been
fishing all night and didn’t have as much as a goldfish to show for it. Tired,
empty and feeling like failures, they climb out of their boat and drag
themselves and their nets to the shore.
As
they finish washing their nets, they notice Jesus standing on the beach smiling
at them. He tells them to put their disappointment, their discouragement, their
self-criticism, aside; he tells them to let go of their emptiness and
negativity, and to trust him enough to try one more time. He tells them to put
out into the deep and lower their nets. And once they take this leap of faith,
the emptiness and the negativity disappear, and their nets become filled to
capacity.
Some
of us may have dragged ourselves out of bed this morning, like Peter and his
crew, carrying emptiness and negativity in our hearts: maybe the loss of a
loved one, or a relationship, or a job; maybe some bad results back from a
biopsy; maybe some anger, guilt or hurt that we’ve been carrying around for
many years.
But
despite that emptiness and negativity we still clicked on this blog. And Jesus
speaks to us through the above Gospel. He tells us to never give up; to trust
him enough to put out into the deep of life and lower our nets one more time;
to let go of any anger, guilt, hurt or self-doubt that haunts us so that we can
be filled to capacity with God’s unconditional love.
“Master,
we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but I will do as you say
and lower my net one more time.”
As
we walk through this day of life, let us hear Jesus calling us. And let us have
faith like Peter to say ‘yes’, to trust Jesus enough to put out into the deep
of life and lower our nets one more time. It is our ‘yes’, our willingness to
let go of our baggage that will make all the difference.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers
of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on
Amazon.com:
Just
to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
Synchronicity
as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and
Pastoral Ministry
