Vth Sunday. Lk.5:1-12

Vth Sunday. Lk.5:1-12 (Miraculous catch of fish and Peter’s call)
In a certain church there was a man in the choir who couldn't sing very well. The choir director suggested that he should leave the choir. Others felt he should be given more time to improve. The choir director then decided to go to the pastor and complain. "You've got to get that man out of the choir or else I'm going to resign." So the pastor went to the man and said to him, "Perhaps you should leave the choir." "Why should I leave the choir?" the man asked. "Well," said the pastor, "four or five people have told me you can't sing." "That's nothing," the man replied, "forty or fifty people have told me you can't preach!" Today's readings show us how God can make use of the most unlikely people to fulfill the divine purpose.
The first reading is on the call of Isaiah, the second on the call of Paul, and the Gospel on the call of Peter and his coworkers. How did these people feel when they realized that they were in the presence of God. They all felt unworthy of God. Isaiah said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips!” (Is. 6:5). Paul felt himself unfit to be called an apostle, because he persecuted the church of God. (1 Cor.15:9). And Peter fell down at Jesus' feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Lk.5:8). Initial feeling of personal unworthiness could be a sign that a soul has seen God. That is why humility is said to be the first and primary virtue in authentic spirituality.
When the soul confesses its sinfulness and inadequacy before God, God reaches out and absolves the sinner and renders him or her competent to serve Him. In the case of Isaiah, one of the seraphs touched his lips with a burning coal taken from the altar of the temple and said to him, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out” (Is.6:7). In the case of Simon Peter, Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people” (Lk.5:10). We see that their qualification for the work of God does not come from them but from God. It is not their personal achievement; it is God's grace. That is why Paul could say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor.15:10).
Beyond the feeling of personal unworthiness, there is another quality that these people have in common, and that is the availability to do God's will and the readiness to follow His directives. As soon as Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” his immediate response was: “Here am I; send me!” (Is.6:8). In the case of Peter and his partners, we are told that “they left everything and followed him” (Lk.15:11) without looking back. And Paul threw himself with so much zeal into God's work that he worked harder than all those who were called before him, though as he is quick to point out, “it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor.5:10). Merely feeling unworthy and incompetent does not make us into people that God can work with. We must add to that the availability and willingness to go out there and do as the Lord directs.
When we follow the guidance of the Lord in our lives, we achieve results that will blow our minds. This is what we see in Peter's miraculous catch of fish. Peter had fished
all night and caught nothing. Jesus asked him to let down his nets for a catch. It seemed foolish to do so, because Peter knew there were no fish to catch. "But at your word," he said, "I will let down the nets". And, like Mary before him, he consented to what seemed the impossible. He obeyed the word to put out into the deep and fish when his own senses told him to expect nothing. The huge catch of fish, almost bursting the nets, which followed was for him a sign of the presence of the holy God in Jesus.
One of the few creatures on earth that can out-jump Michael Jordon is the Impala. This is an African deer with a supercharged spring. It has a vertical leap of over 10 feet and can broad jump over 30 feet. You would think that the zoos of the world would find it impossible to keep such an animal enclosed. Not so! It's rather easy. Because the experts discovered something about the Impala. It will not jump unless it can see where it is going to land. Therefore, a solid wall even 6 feet tall is a sufficient enclosure. Lots of Christians have the Impala problem. They won't take a leap in faith unless they have all the answers in advance about where the leap will take them. But God is looking for some bold believers who, even in the face of the unknown, will leap when the Spirit says leap. And Peter did that.

When God calls someone for ministry, it is not their expertise but their willingness to serve that God counts. For it is not us but God working through us. Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak but it will be the spirit of your Father in you” (Mt: 10:19-20). God spoke to Jeremiah, “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you.” God empowers whoever He commissions for ministry.
People who performed great things in the past were not always great from a worldly standpoint. For example, St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, was below average in intellectual capacities. He struggled to complete his seminary studies. Jesus’ selection of the Twelve Disciples tells us the same truth. You may not be fit for a particular ministry but definitely there are ministries that are suited for you. It is not the power associated with a ministry but the manner in which you perform a ministry that makes you powerful.
Today, as always, the good Lord continues to ask: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The Lord still needs messengers, like Isaiah, will proclaim the Good News of God's love in the temple, or who, like Paul, will announce it in foreign lands to the ends of the earth, or who, like Peter, will speak up for God in the workplace and bring their coworkers and business partners to know and follow the Lord. If we feel unworthy and incompetent for the work of God, know that He renders you fit for the job He wants you to do for Him, as He did with Isaiah, with Paul, and with Peter. He invites us to put out into the deep wherever we are. Only by responding to his call and encountering his holy presence we will finally discover the true identity for which he created us.