At your Word I will let down the Nets

In today's Gospel, Peter had been fishing with his friends and had caught nothing. Jesus is presented as knowing where the fish are to be had and so Peter takes the bait and becomes hooked. After being assured that the net full of fish were ashore, Peter kneels down and states his truth that he is a sinful man in the presence of obviously, a holy man. Jesus, it is important to note, does not deny Peter's truth. In a manner to which Peter will become accustomed, Jesus invites Peter to follow Him and Peter will find out even more clearly, just how sinful he is and how compassionate Jesus will be revealed.

It does seem that our human excuses do not work, especially those of being unworthy, unclear, un-callable. Other prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures and others from the Christian Scriptures have had similar negative or puzzling responses to God's call and intimacy. Our Blessed Mother had a real good one when invited to be the mother of Jesus; she was not married. Perhaps, as with Isaiah, intimacy brings out our best and our worst. In relationship with God, our worst brings out God's merciful best.

There are glaring hard lights and glowing soft lights. A candle is such a soft, warm display. The closer one gets to the light, certain things will be revealed which remain hidden when at a distance. The Christian challenge is whether or not the light of Christ is harsh or gentle. To be honest, it is usually defined by how one looks at her/him self. If we have high expectations of our responses to God, we will most likely believe that God has equally high or higher expectations of ourselves. If so, then the candle becomes a spotlight.

Peter expects his excuse will allow him to return to his fish-finding. Perhaps he projected on to Jesus what he felt about himself, especially after having caught nothing all night. In the light of such holy goodness, Peter found himself worse off than he had thought. The Light projects Himself into and around Peter and his self-image. Peter leaves everything to follow Jesus, except his truth which he will experience even more accurately, but in time, more gently.