No matter how many times I have heard the gospel story for this weekend, there’s always something new and refreshing that can be discerned or drawn from it.
Let’s first lay down the context of the story.
Jesus was in the process of choosing or calling his closest collaborators, his disciples. It was pretty bold for Jesus to get into the boat of Simon without saying any word. Simon was gracious enough to allow Jesus to use his boat as a pulpit. We were told that Jesus taught the crowd from the boat, and when he was finished, he asked Simon to lower the nets.
At this point, Simon was not yet part of Jesus’ band, telling us that apart from Jesus, to belong outside the circle of Christ is to miss something truly significant. “No catch” implies barrenness, non-fulfillment, emptiness, desolation or even death. Simon’s pleading to Jesus to leave him alone after the great catch is a striking definition on this emptiness too: “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” Sin makes us unfruitful, renders us empty.
But, Jesus is willing to change that. His invitation to Simon to become a “fisher of men” is an invitation from focusing on “fish”, meaning what is material, earthly and worldly, to that of “men”, meaning that what is truly important, like relationships and people, highlights the fact that to follow Jesus requires the reordering of priorities and rearrangement of values.
By virtue of our baptism, we too are being called to be fishers of men, to reorder our focus from fish (from what is material and passing) to men (to what is lasting, important and essential that brings authentic joy).
Have you made the transition already – from fish to men? – Fr. Cary