Readings: Colossians 1:9-14; Psalm 98; Luke 5:1-11
The Gospel scene in today’s reading is vivid and beautiful. Jesus is teaching the crowds. “The crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God”, to the point they were so many thathe asked the fishermen to let him preach from their boat. He then works a miracle: he says to them: “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon, the owner of that boat tries to explain, “We have worked all might long and have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” Then he calls the fishermen to follow him. They do, leaving everything behind.
We pray, we read Scripture, we do all sorts of things to get closer to God, and sometimes we see people change before us in miraculous ways. We find God changing our own weaknesses, failures, and despair into hope and faith. These fishermen were truly seeking God. They recognized him when he came even if they still had much to learn.
A few questions for an examination of conscience: Do we have that same persistence and the courage to continue our search until that happens? Do we recognize it when it does? Can we continue, day in and day out, to believe that God is at work in us. In fact, even better: he works with us, for us, and through us? Do we continue to seek to deepen that life in God by being willing to leave behind things that seem important to us so that we can follow Christ more completely, more radically? When we do see his Spirit at work right in front of us, do we follow him?