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30-Jan-2007
Dear Friend,
We are often proud of what we have achieved in life by our own efforts. I
did it all by myself justly claiming credit for our successes. But it also
happens that when we rely only on ourselves, we tend to easily give up when
confronted with repeated failures. God wants the best from us and for us but
not only relying on our own efforts. He invites us to a partnership with him,
together we can make it! Have an enjoyable week-end collaborating with God! Fr.
Jude
Sunday Reflections: Fifth Sunday of the Year Launch out into the deep
4‑Feb-2007
Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8; Corinthians 15:1-11;
Luke 5:1-11;
In the first reading Isaiah reflects on the vision he has of God. He is aware
of the awesomeness of God who resides in his holy temple. The angels constantly
worship the almighty and praise the holy God of creation. In the presence of
this God Isaiah is acutely aware of his unworthiness and sinfulness. He wants
to withdraw from this presence but the merciful God sends his angel who
cleanses him. The angel touches a burning coal to his lips and Isaiah is made
clean and holy. When God asks who will go and preach in His name, Isaiah
strengthened by the divine touch boldly proclaims, Here I am Lord, Send me!.
Do I Have To Go?
That vision is aptly modernized in a poem that updates Gods call to all of
us:
And I said who me? And he said yes, you. And I said, but I am not ready yet,
and there is company coming, and I cant leave the kids, and you know there is
no one to take my place. And he said you are stalling. And the Lord said Go.
And I said I dont want to. And he said I didnt ask if you wanted to. And I
said Listen I am not the kind of person to get involved in controversy, besides
my father wont like it, and what will my neighbours think? And he said
baloney. And yet a third time the Lord said go. And I said do I have to? And he
said do you love me? And I said Lord, Im scared people are going to hate me
and cut me up in little pieces, I cant take it all by myself. And he said,
where do you think Ill be? And the Lord said go. And I sighed Here I am send
me.
Fond du Lac in Marriage Encounter
In St. Pauls letter to the people of Corinth, Paul like Isaiah speaks of the
sense of unworthiness that he experienced before God for having hated and
prosecuted the Church and Jesus. Todays section of his letter is prompted by
the belief among the Corinthians that the resurrection of the body is
impossible. Paul appeals to the testimony of those who saw the risen Christ.
Even though Paul admits his own destructive past in destroying the Church, he
is convinced that the love of God has overcome that. Gods love is greater
than our sinfulness. Instead of focusing on our sinfulness we are challenged to
find our strength in our God.
In todays Gospel we have the memorable encounter of Jesus as he chooses and
calls his disciples to be his followers. Peter and his companions have spent a
fruitless night fishing and are frustrated having caught nothing. They have
given up and are now cleaning up their empty boats when Jesus enters Peters
boat and teaches his followers. When he has finished he turns to Peter and asks
him to launch his boat into the deep. Peter could easily have said, On no not
again! Weve done it the whole night. We know this lake as we have been fishing
here all our lives, theres nothing in it, the time is too late, we are tired
and whats the use of it all? But Peter does not argue. At your word I will
do it And they catch such a large number of fish that their boat is almost
sinking. Peter is aware that something extraordinary has happened. This is not
normal. He sees beyond the miracle. Only God could have made this happen. He
approaches Jesus trembling, Depart from me Lord
for I am a sinful man! Jesus does not leave him, in fact he invites him to
join him. Come with me and I will make you a fisher of men.
Put out into the deep and pay out your nets!. If Jesus sends out his
followers as fishers of men, it is because they themselves have first been
caught by his word. They must run the adventure of faith, accept the risk of
casting their moorings leaving the security of the well-sheltered harbour, to
go wherever the Spirit blows, beyond what is foreseeable and reasonable. First
caught as fish, now they become fishermen, not afraid of hard work, these
apostles: free to call their fellows that is, us to come to their aid. In
these times of crisis, when we are greatly tempted to close up around what we
believe is threatened, faith must be braver than ever, putting out into deep
waters, paying out the nets, in order to catch all that remain to be gained for
Christ.Glenstal Bible Missal
Never Giving Up Years ago a mother in Nashville, Tennessee, gave birth
prematurely to a tiny baby girl. Shortly afterwards, the baby caught pneumonia.
Next the baby caught scarlet fever. Finally she contracted polio. The last
illness left her one leg totally crippled and her foot twisted inwards. When
the little girl reached the age of five she hobbled about on metal braces while
the other kids ran and skipped rope. When she reached eleven the handicapped
girl asked her little sister to stand watch at the door while she practiced
walking without braces. She didnt want her parents to watch her walking around
without the braces on. For a whole year she continued her secret walks. Then
one day she began to feel guilty about them. So she told her doctor what she
had been doing. He was flabbergasted. He agreed to let her continue, but only
for short periods of time. Well, the girls idea of a short period of time was
far different from the doctors idea. And to her periods
of walking without braces the handicapped girl added periods of prayer. To
make the long story short, the girl finally threw away her braces for good. The
girl not only began to walk without braces but even to run and she ran and ran.
In the 1960 Olympics at Rome, she became the first woman in history to win
three medals in track and field. That girl was none other than Wilma Rudolf,
winning the Sullivan Award, naming her the nations top amateur athlete. Her
life dramatizes that no handicap, no matter how great, is a match for
perseverance and prayer.
Mark Link in Sunday Homilies
A French Monk Dom Chautard, who wrote in the first half of this century, had
a favourite them in his books on the spiritual life. He insisted that sheer
human effort, with a Spartan-like discipline that made good use of every
second, was often inefficient! To make such an effort without union God was
largely futile. Chautard believed that the person who prayed much would do in a
few hours what a person who prayed little would hardly do in many days. In a
symbolic sense the apostles discovered the truth of Chautards insight in the
gospel of this Sunday. They had been labouring the whole night, with the best
of fishing skills but caught nothing. They had laboured by themselves, without
Jesus. When Jesus came along later in the morning and asked them to make
another cast, reluctantly they put out their nets in obedience to Jesus and
were surprised beyond their wildest dreams. Isnt it amazing what we can do
when we are in union with Christ? -Eugene Lauer
When we persevere in spite of failures, God comes to help us!
Fr. Jude Botelho
www.netforlife.net
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
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