"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”…….."Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”….”If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of Luke…This story I will admit is one of my favorite stories…In it Peter, the fisherman tells Jesus that he worked all night and did not catch any fish…Jesus his friend and a carpenter tells Peter to cast his nets out again close to the shore and he will catch fish….Peter, the fisherman should have told Jesus the carpenter…”Look guy, you know about banging nails…I’m the fisherman…We are not going to catch any fish this close to the shore”…….But that is not what Peter did - This is one of the reasons why I love him as a character in the Scripture stories…This was his response….” Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”…This action defies all logic!….Peter puts his trust COMPLETELY in Christ, forgetting “everything he knows” and has faith in the one he KNOWS to be God…….This is what we need to do…We need to learn to trust like a child, with reckless abandon!…”Because you said so Lord, I will do it”!….This is how we move mountains because the one that moves them is God himself and least we forget……..Never put God is a “box”!

Many of the teachings from Jesus contained in the Scripture, when you think about them, coming from a person living and working in the world make ABSOLUTELY no sense…..However, when we put these teachings into practice relying solely upon the grace of God…Not only do they “make sense”…But they “bear fruit that will last”….All we have to do is read about the lives of the saints…This should be all the material evidence we need to see that the “blue print” laid out for us works!

Today is the Feast Day of Mother Teresa…This woman many times in her life made decisions that in the eyes of the world “made no sense”….In 1982 a war was waging in Lebanon and in the middle of the fighting was a home for 100 orphans and children with disabilities…..The children had been abandoned by the staff which cared for them……When Mother Teresa heard this she went to Lebanon herself and in the middle of the fighting rescued these children…….Why would anyone in their right mind do this!…..But this is what she did and this is the kind of love God has for us…As parents if these were your children would you not go into a war zone to save your kids? - Of course you would!…This is what Jesus did and does for us!…His love for us is beyond all logic and understanding!

Getting back to our gospel today from St Luke…Peter after seeing what Jesus did said the following…."Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”…When we are confronted in life by the unthinkable and selfless love of another, such a witness can expose to our very eyes just how we all fall short…Jesus in this story did not “rub it in Peter’s face”…Saying something like.........…”Look, I am so much better than you”…Just the opposite…Jesus encourages Peter….”Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”…..This is our God, the God of mercy and forgiveness…He “rolls up his sleeves” and stand beside us in the “heat of the day” and the “thick of the fight”……Even when we fall short

"If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise"

St Paul tells us…”Let no one deceive himself..For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God”……..We need to learn to trust God more then we trust our very selves….When we do that…We too will “bear fruit that will last”….When we rely on God’s grace more then we trust our own talents, knowledge and gifts…Then we too will come to understand that true strengthen is found in our weakness and when we “adhere to the vine” there is nothing God can not accomplish in and through us….Do not put God is a box! - A big mistake made by many throughout history…”I will lead the blind on a way they do not know; by paths they do not know I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These are my promises: I made them, I will not forsake them”

"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”…….."Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”….”If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool”