Have you invited Jesus into your boat? Have you accepted His invitation to put out into the deep? - Daily Reflections September 1, 2016

PUT OUT INTO THE DEEP

 

All over the Gospels, the primacy of Peter among the Twelve is well established. In today’s passage from Luke, we see the headship role Jesus was ascribing to Peter. Though the other disciples were present, it was Simon who took center stage from beginning to end. It was Simon whom Jesus directly addressed, who directly engaged Jesus in a dialogue. And at the end, when Jesus told the Apostles, “From now on, you will become fishers of men” (v.10), the Greek form (second person singular according to biblical scholars), indicated He was addressing them through Peter. I would like to call attention now to two important details.

        First, though there were two boats moored by the lake, Jesus got into one of them — the one belonging to Simon — and began to teach the people from there. Scholars believe that Jesus ending up on Peter’s boat was not only by chance. The Church has always seen this as an image of Jesus teaching from the barque of Peter. This is why great attention is  being given to the role of the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church.

       Secondly, He asked Peter to “put out into the deep waters and let down the nets for a catch” (v.4). Jesus did not intend Peter to be just a casual friend. “Putting out into the deep waters” is Jesus inviting him to a deeper relationship, one that will see Jesus asking Peter after the resurrection, “Do you love me?” (see John 21:15-17) three times.

      Jesus also wants a deep relationship with each of us. This will not happen automatically. First, we need to allow Jesus to be in the boat of our lives. Have you invited Him? Have you allowed Jesus to occupy His proper place (which is everywhere) in your life or just little sections of it?

       Second, have you allowed Jesus to bring you into the deep, beyond your comfort zones? Pope Francis once said that to be a serious Christian, one must be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Are you up to the challenge? Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Have you invited Jesus into your boat? Have you accepted His invitation to put out into the deep?

 

Banish my fear, O Lord. Help me to trust and grant me the courage to put out into the deep, knowing that You are with me in the boat. Amen.