Cast Your Net, Once Again

Good Morning, on this Sunday. On this day of rest. I want you to think of your work. I don’t want you to think about all the work you have to do and have unfinished. But I want you to think about it in order to better enter the life of these disciples we hear in the gospel.

So looking into the life of these disciples who were mostly fisherman. They left fishing and their livelihoods followed Jesus.This was their bread and butter. It wasn’t something impressive but it brought food on the table.

Now after a while of leaving this profession, when Jesus had died and resurrection but they were still waiting for the coming of the holy spirit, they went back to what they once knew. What was once their profession. What they were EXPERTS at.

They spend ALL night, an entire shift, and the Gospel gives a very clear detail that these guys who were once pros, caught nothing. Seven of them. This huge sea. Not ONE fish. Their skills which had once worked in fishing, were faced with failure.

We also have Saul, in the first reading, who is called to a radical conversion, Jesus asks him why are persecuting me, the church, the people of God. He knew himself to be righteous and good, enacting justice. But he was wrong all along. Now Saul, becomes Paul and he is faced too with a crisis of who he is and what he is to do.

Now bringing this full circle you can imagine what this feels like.

When they would catch a big fish it might have made them feel GREAT. Like they are Something.

And when they catch nothing, in failure, it must be hard to fight the thought that they are nothing.

I think we have to be very clear about this gospel that the hauling in of the many fish is probably not a miracle. It was normal for there to be a person to direct fisherman at the shore because they had a clearer view of the water.

But I think after a night of failure, when they hear Jesus to cast the net one more time at a certain part of the night you might not want to hear that!

I think the amazing thing here in this story is the hope after failure and devastation to heed and listen to the suggestions of Jesus.

To us, we might be faced with the crisis like these disciples, we might see our life, our relationships, our habits we want to break, and look at them all as lost causes. As our efforts don’t seem to being enough.

But on the outside, you see Jesus not so much concerned with their failure, but wishes for them to maybe try again in the places they have given up on.

For you this might be hearing suggestions of how to be better.

Have you trying praying?

Have you opened the Bible?

Have you been back to confession?

Have you tried talking to them?

Have you tried doing this and that?

When you hear this you might think (1) or I haven’t tried but I don’t think anything will help (2) I’ve tried that and I’m waiting for things to change.

If you feel today that your faith is hanging on a thread, Jesus is asking you to cast your net once more.

If you feel that you’ve done it all, you’ve tried and failed and nothing has worked, Jesus is asking you to cast your net once more.

If you feel as if you are confused and you don’t know which way to go, Jesus is asking you to cast your net once more.