“Let go of what you think you know. Something amazing happens when you let God and trust.”

“. . . it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done.” ― St Teresa of Ávila, except from “Interior Castle”)

Gospel Text: (LK 5:1-11)

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."
Simon said in reply,
"Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets."
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

In spite of Peter's knowledge and experience in fishing, and in spite of his having been up all night long, Peter and his fishing partners had caught absolutely nothing. Sometimes in what we do, also, we try our best, even at things we've done before and know a lot about, but things don't work out for us. That's a natural part of life in this fallen world.

But in today's Gospel passage, we hear about Jesus coming along. Jesus was a carpenter, not a fisherman. Jesus tells Peter to put out the fishing boat into deep water (not the best place to catch fish), and after the sun had risen (not the best time). Peter starts out with a protest against Jesus' idea, but then has second thoughts, and replies to Jesus, "But if you say so, I will…. I will lower the nets."

Remember that God's ways are not our ways. Sometimes, when we pray, we end up telling God what He should be doing. And when we hear God talking to us in the silence of our hearts, we think His ideas are bad ideas. When Jesus asks us to do something for Him, we should listen. And through the grace that we receive in Holy Communion, we should speak as Peter speaks, and say to Jesus, "But if you say so, I will…."