September 3, 2020 Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Lectionary: 434)
Reading 1 1 COR 3:18-23
Brothers and sisters:
Let no one deceive himself.
If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Responsorial Psalm PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
Alleluia MT 4:19
Come after me, says the Lord,
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“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 the boats 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.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
By Sophie Kock
Recently, I found myself like Peter in today’s Gospel– fishing tirelessly without a single catch.
I had been working hard trying to create a new ministry as the bible study I had been leading dissolved in the midst of COVID-19. Day and night, I asked my friends about the different ways they were serving our community through their ministry activities but nothing seemed to stick which left me feeling discouraged.
One day in prayer, the Lord revealed to me that I had not actually been asking Him what kind of ministry He wanted me to do.
My response was similar to Simon’s when Jesus asked him to lower his net one more time for a catch, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets (Luke 5:5).”
For two weeks I prayed each day that the Lord’s invitation would be clear and for two weeks... nothing happened.
During the third week of my ministry intention, I received a message from a woman seeking a community to grow in faith with. While I explained our bible study was not currently meeting, we decided to get coffee.
The joy and consolation I received from this experience left me in awe.
I put out the net and my heart was overwhelmed by the abundance of graces that came pouring in.
Until that coffee, I had not realized how deeply I was desiring a friend to explore the Catholic tradition with. I went to prayer in amazement of Jesus and His ability to provide for me.
This experience reminded me that loving and serving is not a problem to be fixed. Instead, I am called to surrender fully and fearlessly so I may live in a state of total freedom, bearing witness to the love, joy, and peace which come from living as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sophie Kock works full time in the finance industry and finds great joy in making ordinary moments extraordinary with guidance from the Holy Spirit. She is passionate about inviting others into living intentionally for Christ, and you can find her chatting with people about Jesus at her CrossFit gym, Chick-fil-A, or an airplane on her way to a great adventure. As a farm girl from Iowa, her favorite seasons are sweet corn and football. Find out more about her here and check out her blog here.