2/4/2010
‘Here I am, send me’
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 | Mary Jo Tully
Chancellor, Archdiocese of Portland |
Fifth Sunday
in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 6:1-2a,3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or 15:3-8,11
Luke 5:1-11
It is not surprising that fish are often mentioned in the Gospel. Today’s story takes place at the Lake of Gennesaret. The Lake is also called the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberius. Gennesaret is a plain on the west side of the lake.
Up until now, we have heard Jesus preaching in the synagogue. Now his followers can be found at the lakeside, along the road and in the towns and villages.
Simon, James and John were partners in a fishing enterprise. When Jesus and the crowd arrived, they were cleaning their nets. So that he could be better heard, Jesus got into one of the boats and taught a short distance from the shore. Then he told Simon to move further out and lower the nets.
Simon and all those who stood on the shore were very well aware that morning was not the time for netting fish. Simon was an expert fisherman. But after only a small protest, he took Jesus at his word. Simon did what Jesus said and his nets were filled to the breaking point. Everyone was astonished—the crowd and, most especially, James and John. Then Jesus tells Simon that from now on he would be catching men and the three fishermen left everything and followed Jesus.
While it might seem strange to us, the analogy that Jesus uses was one that his hearers would understand.
The Jews feared the sea. In fact, the Book of Revelation speaks of a vision of a new heaven and a new earth in which “there was no longer any sea” (Rev 21:1). Pulling people out of the sea would have been seen as a great work of salvation.
Some commentators tell us that the fishing symbol was often used in antiquity to speak of teachers who lured students to themselves and changed their lives. Hence, “they took the bait—hook, line and sinker.”
By our Baptism, we are called to be disciples—to cast a wide net and bring the word to the world. Sometimes it seems that we are working very hard and “catching nothing.” We wonder if we are using the wrong “bait” but how can that be if we are truly living the Gospel and preaching the Word of God?
Like Simon, we are aware we are a sinful people. Like St. Paul, we know that we are not fit to be called Jesus’ followers. Still, like Paul, we believe the grace of God is with us. Today Jesus tells us, as he told Simon, we can trust in the one whose work we are doing. Our response is the same as Isaiah’s: “Here I am, send me.”
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