First reading 1 Corinthians 3:18-23
The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God
Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
Responsorial Psalm 23(24):1-6
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
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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“If you, Lord, say so…”
In today’s gospel, Jesus called Simon in the context of everyday life when he was cleaning his nets after a night of futile labour. When Jesus asked him to push his boat out into deeper water and pay out his nets once more for a catch, Peter obliged even though he acknowledged that he had failed to catch any fish. Let us pause today at the response of Peter to Jesus, “…but if you say so, I will pay out the nets”, which reveals his faith in Jesus and trust in His words. His faith did not disappoint because Peter soon caught so many fish that the nets began to tear, and others had to come to help him.
Like Peter, we also sometimes experience tiredness and disappointment from failing to fulfil our expectations, projects that come to nothing, relationships that slip away, etc. As we read today’s gospel passage, let us reflect if we truly trust in Jesus’ words or if we allow failures to overwhelm us. Jesus’ presence in our lives always draws new hope and life out of loss and disappointment. Thus, we say to Him, “Lord, if you say so, I trust. I will not be afraid”.
Reflective question:
Do I trust Jesus, even in hard times?
Do I trust Jesus, even in hard times?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
