22nd Thursday - Catching Fish "Men"

 

 St. Peter is someone, who tried real hard to catch fish, but didn’t succeed, until Jesus came and sat in his boat. He and his fishing buddies owned a fishing business, and worked hard all night on their boat trying to catch fish. But, they didn’t catch a single fish.

Jesus came and sat in one of the boats so the crowd would hear Him preach. When He finished preaching, He told Peter, “Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch.”

Peter didn’t think they would catch anything, because they had worked hard fishing all night long and had caught nothing. Peter said, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command, I will lower the nets.”

But, when he lowered the nets, they caught such a large number of fish, that the nets began to break. The boats were so full they nearly sank.

Peter replied, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Because Jesus worked the miracle, Peter was humbled because he realized it really wasn’t he or the other disciples, who caught the fish, but rather he clearly understood Jesus was responsible for it, and he also recognized his own lack of faith. But Jesus encouraged him, when he said, “Do not be afraid, from now on, you will be catching men.”

In the future the Lord would certainly use Peter to catch many men. For example, on the day of Pentecost, after the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, and after Peter gave his speech, some three thousand were baptized and became Christians. The lowering of the nets would be symbolic of what would become of the Church, as many would be brought to salvation in Jesus Christ. The apostles would go out into the world to spread the nets of the Gospel, and many would be gathered into the boat of the Church.

Perhaps, when we too struggle hard trying to bring many to Christ, and work so hard at it, with seemingly little, or no success, we should invite the Lord into the boat of our lives. And perhaps He will tell us, to once again throw out the nets.

If we see our self as successful in winning souls for Christ, we like Peter, will realize it was not we who brought them to Christ, but it will be the Lord. And with Peter, we will cry out, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”