| Catching
People
February
4, 2007
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
5:1-11
Two
experienced fishermen decided one day to go ice fishing. They
walked out on the frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice, put
worms on their hooks, and lowered their lines into the water.
After about three hours they had caught nothing. Then a young
boy walked by with some fishing gear. He cut a hole in the
ice, put a worm on his hook, lowered the line into the water,
and immediately pulled out a fish. He repeated this process
over and over until a pile of fish lay on the ice. The two
fishermen were amazed. One of them walked over to the boy
and said, “Young man, we have been sitting here for three
hours and have caught nothing, and yet you in a few minutes
have caught a dozen fish. What is your secret?” The boy looked
up and mumbled something that the man could not hear. The
man noticed that there was bulge in the boy's cheek. So he
said to him, “Young man, if you don't mind, would you spit
out that bubble gum so that you could speak clearly and I
could understand you.” The young man cupped his hands and
spit it out. Then he said, “It's not bubble gum. It's my secret.
You need to keep the worms warm.”
When
we see someone doing something that we cannot do, we presume
there is a secret. We presume that they know something we
do not know, that they have a talent we do not have. Now this
might be true about fishing, but it's not true about being
a disciple of Jesus. For we believe that when Christ calls
us, he equips us at the same time. The call and the ability
to accomplish the call are given together.
This
is the experience we find throughout the scriptures. In today's
first reading, Isaiah is called to be a prophet. He immediately
knows that he is inadequate. He is not properly equipped;
he is a sinful man. He wants the Lord to find someone else.
But the Lord does not find someone else. Instead, the Lord
sends an angel to touch his lips, to forgive his sin, to equip
him to be a prophet. When Peter is called in today's gospel,
he immediately sees that he lacks what is necessary. He is
inadequate to the task. He tells Jesus, “Depart from me, Lord,
I am a sinful man.” Find someone else. Jesus does not find
someone else. Instead he says to Peter, “Do not be afraid,
from now on you will be catching people.” Jesus equips Peter
for what his calling will be. Both the call and the ability
to accomplish the call are given together.
Now
this is a very important truth because we are called in the
same way that Peter was called. We were given faith not just
for our benefit but for the benefit of others. Through our
baptism we were called to believe, so that what we believe
might be shared with others. There is no such thing as private
faith—faith just for me. To the extent that we believe, we
believe not only for ourselves but to share what we believe
with others. We, like Peter, are called to catch people.
Now
this may cause some of us to be worried. We say, “I don't
know how to share my faith.” “I'm not good with words.” “I
don't like talking about religion or what I believe.” Fine
and good, all of us have different gifts. But if we believe,
we are called to share that belief. The God who we experience
in our own life is not to be just kept within us. Our faith
in God is to be shared with others.
How
we share it can vary. Sharing our faith does not mean imposing
our faith on others. It does not require that we stand on
a soapbox on Public Square or that we stop people in the supermarket
and ask them whether they have accepted Jesus as their personal
savior. That is one way to do it. But you can share your faith
by using less words and more example. You can share your faith
by waiting for the right circumstances.
Here
is where it is important to remember that the call and the
ability to accomplish the call are both given together. If
you have been called to be a parent or a grandparent, you
can be sure that God has equipped you to share your faith
with your children. Do not imagine that it is the responsibility
of someone who works professionally in the church. Your call
involves sharing what you believe. And God has equipped you
to accomplish it. You can find your own way to tell your children,
“This is what I believe”. “This is how I pray.” “I know God
loves you.” Whenever we find ourselves dealing with a friend
or someone at work who is in need or struggling grief or loss,
whenever we find ourselves called to reconcile with someone
who has hurt us, that call is an invitation to share what
we believe. We should not be reluctant to include our faith
in our approach to others. We can say to the person in need,
“I believe that God is with you as you deal with this loss
or this problem. I will pray for you, because I know God loves
you.” We can say to the person with whom we seek reconciliation,
“I come and ask for forgiveness not only because I believe
it is right, but because I follow the teaching of Jesus.”
We
who have been called to believe are called to share that belief.
The call and the ability to accomplish the call come together.
There are no secrets, no things that some have and others
do not. So the next time you find yourself with someone and
you realize that that person's life could have more meaning
and comfort if they knew of a God who loved them and cared
for them. Don't stand there and wait for God to send someone
to proclaim that love. Don't stand there and wait for someone
to share that good news. God has already sent someone. That
someone is you.
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