Easter Daily Gospel Reflection - 18 April 2013
One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.”
Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”
So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
There is something Otherworldly about deep water. Recently there was a Discovery channel program called Monster Squid. It was the first time that a giant squid was filmed in its natural habitat. The only known predator of the giant squid is the sperm whale. They are known to live in depths ranging from 300-1000 meters. In the show, one can barely see the squid approaching the bait out of the murky deep. It’s a rather startling thing to see.
In the story above, Jesus tells Peter to “row out farther, into the deep water.” That’s where new things are discovered. Things about the world. Things about ourselves.
Jesus calls us to the deep found within ourselves. He is calling us to move past all of the falseness, the superficial, and get to our true selves - the part of ourselves where the Light of creation resides, where the darkness, the falseness, can’t ever overcome it.
It’s there, in the silence of the deep, that G_d is experienced. And, as we see in the story, what we experience isn’t just for us alone. It’s for others. What we find deep in ourselves is for all creation. Like Peter, we say, “Master, because you say so, we’ll go deeper and bring back life for the whole world.”
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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