Gospel: September 5, 2024
(Thursday)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 24: 1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
1st Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 18-23
Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says: God catches the wise in their own wisdom. It also says: The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.
Because of this, let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you; Paul, Apollos, Cephas—life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.
Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11
One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat, and continued to teach the crowd.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.
Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.
Reflection: “Do not be afraid.”
Accepting Jesus into our life is a miracle in itself. Jesus’ words continue to nourish and enrich us. Without the guidance of Jesus’ words, we can easily get lost in our journey of faith. We can only respond to the demands of our mission-driven life when we heed and take to heart the words of Jesus even if they appear to be disturbing. We may remember that a few days ago we reflected on Jesus’ proclamation of his mission statement and people’s amazement (cf. Lk. 4:16-22). Such Gospel passage is immediately followed by a set of verses narrating the people’s indignation because Jesus reminded them of how prophets Elijah and Elisha were sent and ministered to foreigners rather than to the people of Israel (cf. Lk. 4:23-30). The words of Jesus disturbed them.
Now then, these same people who spoke highly of Jesus now wanted to do him harm. They rejected Jesus. Today’s Gospel presents Peter’s action as the opposite of that of the people. Peter listened and heeded Jesus’ words. Because Peter heeded the words of Jesus, the miracle of the great catch of fish happened. Peter accepted Jesus by admitting his sinfulness, which is the opposite of the people’s arrogance (cf. Lk. 4:23-30).
