GOING FISHING

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Luke 5:1-11

 

Even those among us who do not regularly go fishing know that to catch fish you need bait.  Furthermore, different fish need different bait.

Jesus calls us to be fishers of people.  Well, if we are going to catch people we’ll need bait.  What will we use?   The list is endless:  charity, forgiveness, healing, comfort, hope, understanding, strength, truth, a sense of belonging, a sense of being loved, a sense of being needed.    All the graces that God can bestow.

And just like fish, different people respond to different bait. So, we need to be prepared to use all the bait at our disposal so that we can catch as many people as we can.

Just think of your own experience.  Chances are that what drew you to God is a bit different than what drew me to God. So, the bait that we might use to lure one person might not lure another.  (Pun intended.)

Another thing about fishing – it's frustrating.  Sometimes we end up empty handed.  Just like Simon and his fellow fishermen in today’s gospel.  "They truly had a hard day’s night" (quoting The Beatles) and caught nothing despite all their efforts.  The same is true when we seek to catch people.  People will not always take the bait.  Despite all we might do in a given situation, a person might be “the one that got away.”  But we can never get discouraged, never lose hope.  Just like in today’s gospel, if we hear Jesus say, “Just one more time,” we’ve got to be ready to listen. We’ve got to be ready to throw in that line, make that cast, drop that net.  Because with God, as the Good Book says, all things are possible.

 “Call Me Ishmael”