In this morning’s Gospel, St. Luke talks about a scene where Jesus gets into the boat with an exhausted crew of men and instructs them to go back to where they began, back to where they failed all night to catch fish. Peter admits they’re tired but then says, “but at your command, I’ll lower the nets.” Then a miracle happens. The power of Jesus over even nature itself is manifested right there in front of them. Peter falls to his knees, aware of his own sinfulness, and asks Jesus to depart, “for I am a sinful man.” That’s kind of the response we usually have when we come face to face with the divine. Being placed in the spotlight of God’s glory, our own imperfections begin to show up. They become apparent.
Faced with God’s fascinating and mysterious presence, a man discovers his own insignificance. Before the burning bush, Moses takes off his sandals and veils his face in the presence of God’s holiness. Before the glory of the thrice-holy God, Isaiah cries out: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.” Before the divine signs wrought by Jesus, Peter exclaims: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” But because God is holy, he can forgive the man who realizes that he is a sinner before him: “I will not execute my fierce anger. . . for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst.” (CCC 208)
The key here to all of this is in the title that Peter uses before and after this encounter. Before he sees the manifestation of power, Peter calls Jesus Master. Here, this carpenter tells the seasoned fisherman to do what is at odds with what Peter thinks he should do. All Peter wants to do is get everything put away, get home and get some rest. But Peter, out of respect, is obedient and gets back out on the water. But then, after Jesus shows Peter the power of God, Peter calls Him “Lord.” In modern language, Peter went from calling Jesus a “Professor” to a title that means someone who has absolute and exclusive ownership rights. My King and My God.
What does this have to do with us? Well, here, in a few minutes, we will come face to face with the power of God. Father will elevate the host before us and declare: “The Body of Christ.” That same God who made the oceans and fish obey Him, spoke from the burning bush, made the dead rise again, and healed the blind, and the lame will be elevated in front of us in the Eucharist. It should make us aware of our own sinfulness. It should make us want to fall to our knees in fear and trembling, in awe and wonder. And it should also make us ask: Do we realize how much God loves us? So much that He becomes the very thing we need to survive. The bread of life, changing the substance of the host we receive into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. All that we might spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
Our response is Amen. Literally “truth.” I believe. It’s a declaration that yes, Lord, we are tired. We are a sinful people, but we come before you to ask you into our boat again. To ask you to guide us out into the deep waters of this world, to show us where, when, and how to work for your glory to be manifested in our lives.
A reflection on the readings for Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time: September 02, 2021