Toiling and catching nothing (Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle C)

Peter Paul Rubens, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1618), 

The National Gallery (London)

...

The miraculous catch of fish was of course a historical event in the life of Jesus, but also a symbol of the deep conversion experiences which God grants us from time to time and which set us on a new course in our lives. These  experiences usually occur at times when we feel we are stagnating – as spouses, parents, friends, church leaders, ministers, or managers in the workplace. We are toiling all night and catching nothing. Then one day the Lord tells us to “put out into deep water” – to move in a new, and frightening, direction. The message might come from a person or a sermon, a moment of prayer and silence in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament, a book, a television program, a news item in the papers. Sometimes Jesus speaks to us from a negative experience – failure, rejection, falling into a sin we thought we would never commit, recognition that we are addicted to drugs or drink or power. We each have our deep water we must put out into: be reconciled with someone we have refused to speak to for years; give up devotions we love and move to a more contemplative prayer; start working among the poor; get involved in community; go back to school; join AA; do a Marriage Encounter weekend  or doing a well prepared, contrite Confession! We put out objections like St Peter’s: “we have toiled all night,” “what will happen if…,” “we tried this before and it didn’t work,” and so on. But we do it anyway and it works – relationships take on new life, classes or work-places  become places of inspiration, our prayer life takes off – so much so that our problem now becomes how to cope with all we have to do: our nets begin to tear. We feel overwhelmed: “Leave me Lord, I am a sinner.” We who were totally bored now have a feeling of awe at the privilege of being spouse, parent, teacher in classroom or parish, or just to be a baptized Christian. We know then that our lives can never be the same again: “from now on it is men you will catch.” This must be interpreted correctly. God does not want us to go round trying to “catch” people. The text means first getting involved with people not things, and secondly that our mission in life is to lead one another into God’s net, so that we can all be gathered into his kingdom. The Lord wants us from now on to care for people, help them to grow in self-esteem, move away from addictions, from problematic patterns, etc. – all the different ways in which we need to be brought closer to God and feel safe in his net. This new consciousness means giving up things that we thought important. We do it cheerfully; we are “not afraid” as we bring our boats back to land and without giving them a second thought, leave them there to follow the new way God has called us to. There, next to the Lord, there is peace and serene joy • AE