Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
Ps. 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or
1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11
Luke 5:1-11
The popular Chosen series shows the following scene. Simon is desperate to pay off his tax debts, and because the business does not go as he wished for, he decides to play a double game. He volunteers for the Romans to report those Jews who fish on Shabbat and don’t pay taxes on this catch. At the same time, he warns his fellow Jews not to fish on holy days. This “smart plan” does not work out, however! The Romans discover his treacherous attitude, and they do not condone his debts. He must pay. His partners, Andrew, his brother, the sons of Zebedee – John and James – with their father help him out, fishing the whole night to catch as many fish as possible. This plan does not work out either.
On the next morning, after a long and laborious night, they wash their nets. Jesus is there, teaching and preaching. I don’t know whether this is historically accurate. There is no proof of it. However, this is a good introduction to the gospel reading. It shows Simon trying to solve the problems by himself. He trusts his skills, his wisdom. He thinks he is smart enough! He sees the situation, notices the details, the nuances and then he acts! No matter how smart the calculation is, it simply does not work.
When Jesus turns to him saying “cast the nets out,” Simon is surprised and a bit reluctant. The logic and the experience say “no.” “We worked hard during the night when it was proper to fish. It is cooler during the night and the fish come up to the surface. Now it is too hot.” This way never worked; yet Simon casts the nets out because of Jesus’ word. And the unexpected happens with so many fish that the boats are sinking. Jesus’ word changes everything because it is powerful!
Let us stop for a while and reflect on Simon’s thinking. He might be exhausted after the whole night, desperate and frustrated. He loses all hope. He does not see any way out. But listening to Jesus, hope grows in a mysterious way in his heart. Trusting Jesus, everything changes. He gives what may be the last chance to this preacher.
Let us consider a bit more in detail the whole scene. Where did it take place? In an everyday situation. Fishers, fishing, working hard using their skills, talents, experience, the wisdom of others, and logic. Nothing. There are such situations when things simply do not work out. When no matter how hard I try, I fail. Times of frustration, despair, failure or betrayal and abandonment.
This is the moment when we try to focus, rethink things and try to get help. Usually, we do not turn to Jesus to listen to him and be guided by his word. If we turn to him, we usually say, “help me, oh God … this is what should be done … .” In Simon’s case, a stranger, who is not a fisher at all, says something different. He says something that goes against logic and experience. And it comes at the wrong time! Often, we think the Word of God lacks logic, it goes against the experience, scientific knowledge. Yet it is powerful!
It is therefore a miraculous catch of fish as a sign of the power of Jesus’ word: When we generously give ourselves to Jesus at his service, he will accomplish great things in us. This is how Jesus acts with each one of us: He asks us to board the boat of our life and to set out with him on a new sea that will prove to be full of surprises. The greatest miracle that Jesus performed for Simon and the other disappointed and tired fishermen was not so much the nets being filled with fish as the fact that he helped them not to become victims of disappointment and discouragement when one’s luck fails. He opened them up to become proclaimers and witnesses of his word and of the Kingdom of God. And the disciples’ response was prompt and decisive: “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (v. 11).