First reading Colossians 1:9-14
God has taken us out of the power of darkness
Ever since the day we heard about you, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Responsorial Psalm 97(98):2-6
The Lord has made known his salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
Gospel Luke 5:1-11
They left everything and followed him
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little 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 deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
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The deeper water
“Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” Jesus instructed Peter to push his boat and venture into deeper waters. Although Peter was an experienced fisherman who had worked tirelessly all night without success, something about Jesus compelled him to obey despite his exhaustion and reluctance. By following Jesus into deeper waters, Peter experienced a great catch beyond anything he could have imagined.
“Deeper water” means going beyond the comfort of predictable waters and entering unfamiliar waters, but doing so with the trust that Jesus will guide and strengthen us. This call for greater trust might not be easy for us, as it implies the need to control every aspect of our lives and accept that some things are beyond our immediate understanding and influence. Today, the call is for a deeper faith, a greater trust in Jesus. Let us allow Jesus to be in our boats, in our lives, and live this day depending on Him who will always lead us to experience a life filled with meaning and purpose.
Reflective question:
What prevents me from going beyond my comfort zone and entering into deep waters with Jesus?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
