Called to be fishers of men and women

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time C February 9, 2025 Luke 5, 1-11

On Sundays we have a children’s mass at 10:30 and so I am always thinking about the gospel in relation to children. How can I explain this gospel to kids who are 10 years old? How can I tell them that like Isaiah and Peter and Paul they too are called. How can I let them know that they are just as important as me in building up the Reign of God here in the world today. Maybe more important because of their youth and the fact that they probably will be around in 50 years and I definetly won’t. The Gospel today in fact all three readings talk about call: Isaiah in the first reading; Paul in the second and finally Peter in the gospel. Isaiah was ovelwhelmed by the presence of God in the temple. He was astounded because he was a man of unclean lips living with amongst an unclear people. Paul was the one who began his career persecuting Christians was knocked to the ground on the way to Damascus and Peter was amazed by an astounding catch of fish after having fished all night and catching nothing. Peter’s first response was to say, “leave me Lord for I am a sinful man.” All three were amazed at the presence of God; all three responded with their sense of unworthiness and all three were sent to be missionaries, apostles to bring others to God. Obviously the image that speaks most strongly to children is that of a fishermen or women. We can understand what that is like, even though many of us have never fished and none I doubt fish for our living. I am not a fisherman, not even for fun or sport but I’ve been around enough fishermen that I know that it is not easy to catch fish. It isn’t like going to Walmart and saying, “I’ll take 2 kilos of salmon, or 1 kilo and ½ of catfish.” No, what is common to all fishers is the need for patience, to go out and wait and wait until you make a catch. I suppose that a good fisher knows the best places to fish but they also have the right equipment. The have a rod and reel a net and maybe the most important… they have the right bait, something to lure the fish to take a bite and get the hook in their mouth. What is the best bait or best way to lure someone to Jesus? In the past Redemptorists were famous for luring people to Jesus by fear. We were known as the Hell fire and brimstone preaching. We talked about the fires of hell thinking that people would be so afraid that they would turn to Jesus and live their lives of sin. That isn’t true so much today. Rather than the fires of hell we try to talk about the rewards of heaven, the mercy of God, the Love we experience in the Holy Spirit. Now that might be fine here in Church, to talk about the goodness of God, but if we are going to send all of you out to be fishers of men and women it might be a hard place to start. No, I think the best way that we can lure people to Christ is by being a joy-filled community. People who are kind and loving. Today we celebrate not just the call of Peter, Paul and Isaiah we celebrate our call as well. Like them we may feel that we are unworthy to answer the call. And yes we are unworthy, we are imperfect we have sinned, but so did Peter, Paul and Isaiah, and God still called them, God still call us. Like Isaiah he comes with a purifying ember and says, “Forget about your unworthiness, I have a job for you to do; get up and do what needs to be done, and I'll see that you get the support you need.”