“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew we hear how Jesus chose Peter to be the first Pope…."Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”……….Would you have chosen Peter?…..Peter did not always think before he spoke - Peter denied Jesus in his most needed hour….Peter was uneducated….This is the guy!?!…..In so many ways God knows us better then we know our selves…..St Teresa of Avila, who is a Doctor of the Church wrote about “the caverns within a man soul” - Meaning within each of us there are “caverns” that even we do not know about but God does because he put them there!…And as we progress in the process of sanctification - God reveals these “caverns” to us….Jesus when we chose Peter knew in the end he would come through - And he did!…He knew Peter better than Peter knew himself…The same goes for us…We must trust the process!….If we fully cooperate with God - He will lead us to places we never thought possible and we will do things we never thought possible…..Why?….Because God created us ALL to be saints….And the only thing that holds us back is ourselves

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?”

The greatest adventure a person can embark upon is to follow Christ with reckless abandon….The secular world would disagree sadly - This is why our world needs more people who commit to this “adventure”……I was born into a simple family…My father was a barber and my mother was an office secretary….When I look back at my life I cannot believe where I have been……At twenty-two years old I committed my life to Christ and began living as a practicing Catholic…Since then I have traveled the world…I have served the poor across America, in Haiti and in India….I served with Mother Teresa’s sisters actively for seven years in New York City and saw a side of the city that has shocked me at times but at the same time “opened my eyes” wide!…I have written a book…I am a co-host on the radio…..And God is not done with me yet!!!!….There are smarter people then I am - People much more qualified to do the things that I have done - But God chose me!….Why? - Because I gave God permission….This is the key…God cannot work radically in our life unless we radically surrender to him….Its like when a Catholic couple gets married….When my wife and I got married we were open to life…In thirteen years we have given life to eight children - Three died before they were born and five are with us know….Again, the day we were married, we did know how many children God will give us…But God did - My wife and I simply cooperated with him….This is what every Catholic must do….Surrender our “plans” - And embrace God’s plan….We get in our own way! - Get out of the way and let God work….His plan for your life is infinitely better then your plan!

“I will give thanks to your name, because of your kindness and your truth: When I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me”

Today Jesus tells St Peter that not only will you be the first Pope but the Church, which appeared so small and weak in its beginning stages will one day conquer the world….If you were Peter and Jesus told you that two thousand years ago, would you have believed him?….Well - Peter did!…Maybe that is why Jesus chose him!…..As Catholics we must be willing to do the “ridiculous” so God can do the miraculous….Think about Noah for a moment…When we think of Noah, we think about the ark he built and how he saved two of every animal and God saved them from a great flood…Now think of Noah before the flood, when he was building the ark in his “back yard”…My bet is, his neighbors thought he was crazy!!! - “Why are you building this boat Noah?!?”…And I am sure Noah told them why - And I am also sure his neighbors that Noah was crazy….But in the end - Who was right?….Noah was willing to do the “ridiculous” and as a result God did the miraculous…..It all comes done to radically surrendering to God….People like to convince themself that they are in control and when they do - They “play it safe”….Catholics today must “stop playing it safe”….Its time "put out into deep water" - Its there that we become the people we were born to be…..“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 they 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.”…..JMJ