What are We Going to
do with All These Rotting Fish?
Overwhelmed by the miracle of the immense catch, Peter is
“amazed” and falls to his knees before the Lord. Peter seems painfully aware of his
sinfulness, of the distance between himself and Jesus. “In the bright sunlight of God’s love, Peter
sees his shadow side. So he utters an
utterly human response: ‘Go away from me, for I am a sinful man’” (Page 159).
Father Martin then lists several reasons why we push God
away, or, why, at times, there is distance between God and his people. Father
Martin specifically addresses the issue of the people who feel marginalized,
separate, from the Church they once called “home”—the people who feel
discouraged or scandalized by what their churches do or don’t do.
He reminds us:
It is important to remember that the church did not die
and rise from the dead. Jesus did. Especially in times of difficulty and
scandal, we need to be reminded that our faith is not in an institution but in
a person: Jesus. . . . The church does
not save us, Jesus does. It is Jesus,
not the institution, who has called you into relationship with him. Even though we may feel the church is saying
‘Go away from me’ those words never pass from Jesus’ lips when he meets sinful
people. . . . .In belonging to a Church, we sometimes feel unworthy of
membership. We also feel, at times, that
the church is unworthy of the one who founded it. (Pages 163 – 164).
In this era of the “New Evangelization” it is important to
remember that the people we need to be fishing for may include members of our
own families, or the friends and neighbors who used to sit down the pew from us
at Mass, but have now fallen away. They
need to be reminded that Jesus is not God’s
“No” but is always God’s “Yes.”
As we begin a new church year, lets reach out and
invite those on the margins to come home.
Questions to Ponder and Discuss:
1. What do you think led Peter to say, "Go away from me, for I am a sinful man."
2. Despite Peter's admission of sinfulness, Jesus calls him to be a disciple. Why do you think Jesus does this? Why does he call Peter specifically?
3. Witnessing the catch of so many fish may have enabled Peter to accept Jesus's invitation. That is, the miracle may have served as proof of his power and authority. What "fish" in your life help you say yes to God?
Steven Olson
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Some thoughts that came to mind after reading this chapter were that as disciples of Christ, we must be willing to try over and over again to be obedient to Christ -- although Peter had already fished all night, when Jesus told him to drop his net, he did so out of obedience. Another thought was that so many people leave the Church because they take offense at what the Pope, a priest, a parishioner, etc. says or does, and Father Martin reminds us that our relationship is with Jesus, not the Church, although I believe he infers that we do need the Church also to sustain that relationship -- but the Church itself is made up of sinners and imperfect people so we need to keep our focus on Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI can identify with not accepting God's call because of fear of change. For many years, I felt called to hospice ministry, but made up all kinds of excuses why I couldn't volunteer for this ministry. My children were young, and I didn't have time for the six week evening course to prepare for this. I was too tired at night to take a six week course, etc. After several years, of excuses, the call was still present, so I went ahead and took the course, and waited to be assigned a client. As I proceeded to contact families whose names I was given, nothing came of it, as a client may have died before all plans were made for me to visit; or, the family decided they did not want a volunteer to come, as they had enough support, etc. I was somewhat at a loss for what was going on, as I had felt the call for a long time, and then when I finally assented, nothing came of it. I had very few clients over a two year period, and decided that what was initially wanted from me by the Lord, was to just be obedient to the call when it first came, get the prep work done, and wait to be needed in the field. The field work did come eventually and lasted a few years, although I am now no longer involved in this ministry. So, for me that was a test of obedience.
Somewhat along those lines, there is a "story" of God asking someone to push on a huge rock daily -- the person does this daily for a very long time, and then complains to God that he was asked to push on this rock, but it never seems to move, so he no longer wants to do this. God tells the person that he was not told to move the rock, but to just push on it -- a form of obedience and discipline. Perhaps, those strong arms would be of some use in the future (maybe, for physical protection). For anyone who has ever seen "The Karate Kid", we all remember how important "the wax on, wax off" motion was even though it did not make any sense to young student.