Bulletin Article: 5OT-C

   Good fishermen (and fisherwomen) are not born that way—they learn the art of fishing from others who are successful.  I have been out fishing only a couple times in my life, and I have pretty much nothing to show for my efforts. But why should I have expected to be successful?  I did not know where to look for the fish.  I was not there at the right time of the day.  I wasn’t using the correct equipment.  I didn’t even know what I was going to do with the fish once I caught it.  Thankfully my life and livelihood did not depend on my ability to make a catch.

Simon Peter, and his partners, James and John, were professional fishermen whose lives and fortunes did depend on their ability to make a catch. They had a boat.  They invested in nets.  They had the patience and persistence to be out all night working their trade in the Lake of Gennesaret.  After a difficult night and upon coming back, they encountered our Lord who had something to teach even these old salts:  put out into the deep waters and lower your nets for a catch.

   A good fisherman knows that they need to go where the fish are, at the right time of day, using the right equipment. At first they protest, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing!” But going out again, in obedience to the master, they make a spectacular catch and they learn a new way to fish: do not be afraid: from now on you will be catching men. They left their old equipment on the shore and followed the Lord who offered them something new and exciting and different: the prospect of fishing for the hearts of people longing for the Kingdom of God.

   I am convinced that the Lord continues to encourage his Church with the same words: put out into the deep. We can’t do things the same way over and over again and expect the same results. That’s the challenge of evangelization in our contemporary world. That’s the challenge of living a vocation in the contemporary world.  If we do not update our techniques and attitudes, if we do not go to where the fish are, if we do not have the persistence to try and try again, if we do not have the humility to listen to a wise teacher who can show us the way, our fishing cannot be successful.
   Our Church is ever ancient and ever new... a timeless Gospel continues to be announced throughout the world as it always has, but in new and exciting ways.  Wouldn't the apostles marvel at the power of a smart phone or a web site to accomplish their mission?  Wouldn't they be among the first ones out there, 'putting into the deep' for the sake of evangelization?
   There is a daunting challenge which stands before us as a Church as we consider who will sit in the pews, who will serve as the priests and religious, who will bring the Good News of salvation to the ends of the world in generations to come.

   Jesus tells us as individuals and as a Church, 'do not be afraid!'   We already have the tools and the know-how.  Do we have the faith and persistence to invite the Lord to work through us to yield an abundant catch?

-- Fr. Tom Donovan