In his relation to God and his mission, Jesus is and will always be alone. It is in and through him alone that the mystery of salvation is fulfilled ‘today.’ It is with regard to him alone that we must make our decisions. And yet he shares his mission with certain individuals whom he makes ‘fishers of men.’ Yesterday, it was the invisible God who called the prophets and made them his spokespersons. Henceforth, Jesus will choose those who will be sent to announce the good news of salvation.
The Old Testament delights in evoking the initiative of God, who chooses and sends his prophets: Abraham (Gen 12),Moses (Exod 3), Amos (Amos 7), Jeremiah Jer 1), Ezekiel (Ezek 3), and others. Along with the common features that can be found in each of these stories are the particular characteristics of each, having to do with the personality of the messenger, his particular mission and the concrete circumstances in which he would exercise it.
The calling of Isaiah is connected with a vision in the Temple. Isaiah ‘sees’ God, the Lord and King of the universe. The ‘high and lofty throne,’ the ‘train’ of the cloak that ‘filled the Temple,’ evoke the incomparable majesty and dignity of the one who dwells in the midst of his people and leads them through history. The God of majesty is the thrice-holy God. The seraphim, those mysterious, fiery beings, are his throne. Acclaiming them was doubtlessly a practice before Isaiah’s time in worship and has been part of the Christian liturgy throughout the centuries. It is a practice filled with the prophet’s theology of the sanctity of God. But in the liturgical framework of this Sunday, we will remember above all the universality of the reign of the ‘God of the universe,’ whose glory fills the earth, whose sovereign might is revealed, in the vision, by the clamorous shout that shook the hinges of the doors while smoke filled the Temple. How could anyone help not feel his or her utter frailty and unworthiness? (Perhaps this is what purgatory is like? The utter sadness of our total unworthiness before God) But God purifies Isaiah, (As he does the souls in purgatory) who has the audacity to calmly say: ‘Here I am …send me.’ With Psalm 138 and its refrain ‘In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord’ the assembly echoes the acclamation of the seraphim, it gives thanks and joins the whole universe with its praise. And bowing toward the Throne of the Glory of God, it acknowledges that everything comes from him, that each believer has a share in the universal victory: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart, [for you have heard the words of my mouth;] in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy Temple and give thanks to your name……’
Now we turn to today’s Gospel and see the Master who, from where he is seated in Peter’s boat, teaches the crowds with his sovereign authority. The scene drawn by the evangelist has a striking, solemn, hieratic quality. We should pause over it, for in ways that are distinctively his own, Luke says many important things.
Jesus is seated in a boat that Simon, at his request, has anchored some little distance from the shore. His voice carries to the bank, where the crowds are gathered to hear the word of God. This is not a meaningless scene, but one that belongs to the Gospel; it is a parable in action. Actually, it allows us to contemplate Jesus the Lord who teaches the word to the Church and to the countless multitudes to whom the good news must still be proclaimed. Peter lends his boat, as he will later lend his voice, though never substituting it for Jesus. The evangelist passes without transition from the title of Master to that of Lord. Luke wants the reader to realise, from the beginning, the true identity of the Master and Lord who’s teaching the Gospel faithfully transmits, as it has been received from tradition. Drawing Simon and his companions from his teaching as he had previously drawn them from their work, Jesus directs them to go out on the lake and cast the nets they had been drying. The demand was so unexpected (to say the least) That Simon couldn’t refrain from pointing out : ‘Master, we have worked hard all night long and have caught nothing.’ But having said this, he did not hesitate: ‘but at your command, I will pay out the nets.’ He caught so many fish that he had to call his companions to help, and [they] filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.’ Simon, whom the evangelist will henceforth refer to as Peter, the name that Jesus will give him, was immediately seized with ‘fright’ — at this manifestation of the divine. ‘…..as were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were partners with Simon.’ He saw with his own eyes the one whom he recognised as the Lord! He is sitting here in Simon’s boat! Simon can only fall at his feet and beg him to leave, for he is a sinful man. ‘When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying ‘leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.’’
All manifestations of the divine excite a profound feeling of holy terror, for the creature is in the presence of his God. The Bible never misses such an occasion: for example, the stories of the calling of the prophets, which we have seen in the first reading. But we can also think of Mary being ‘greatly troubled’ at the announcement of the angel (Luke 1:29). In every case, in one way or another, a word is said that is not meant only to calm the fearful heart, but to authenticate the revelation in some way: ‘Do not be afraid’ says Jesus to Simon as the angel had also said to Mary (Luke 1:30). Finally, we see the revelation of the vocation and the mission: ‘from now on it is men you will catch.’
Coming after the miraculous catch, this declaration points out that his success will surpass all imagination and that it will come from the Lord and the faithfulness of Peter, who cast his nets when told to do so. The story ends with the response of Peter and his companions. Returning their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. To follow Jesus is to become a disciple. Luke notes the radical nature of this decision in stating that the disciples had to leave ‘everything’ to follow him; some of those Jesus called ‘Come follow me’ balked at this sacrifice.
The story of the miraculous catch clearly has an Easter flavour. The reader that Luke is addressing is clearly a Christian, who not only possesses Easter faith, but who lives in a Church community where, through the apostles and their successors, the work of the resurrected Christ is continued. It is for this reason that Luke places the miraculous catch and the calling of Peter and his companions, and their response at the beginning of his Gospel, and indicates in what spirit the Gospel is to be read. Luke has stated clearly at the beginning that he wanted to compose a narrative to show the reader the reliability of the instruction he had received, and not necessarily, a strictly chronological order.
As the story ends, one can clearly see that the central figure is Jesus, Master and Lord who alone teaches with truth and authority, he is and remains at the origin of the preaching and mission of the Church. It is he who calls ‘the fishers of men.’ To follow him is to leave everything behind. This Jesus is the Messiah, herald of the good news and the divine grace, whose revelation inaugurates the era of salvation; Jesus, the prophet, the sign of contradiction whom no-one can remain neutral; Jesus, Master and Lord at the origin of his mission, who calls his disciples to follow him while abandoning everything to become ‘fishers of men’ in this world; Jesus, his person and mystery on whom shines the light of earlier Scripture, who preaches conversion to all.
The Church is the living body of Christ; it is the diversity of graces, gifts and services that it cannot do without, and of which St. Paul talks about. Coming from the one Spirit. Let each of us examine the way we place them at the service of all in our own vocation!
‘Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.’
