September 1st, 2016
by Chas Kestermeier, S.J.
Creighton University's English Department
click here for photo and information about the writer

Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 434


1 Corinthians 3:18-23
Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Luke 5:1-11
Praying Ordinary Time

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

In most of the New Testament, Peter appears to be somewhat dumbfounded by what he sees Jesus do and hears him say, but here Peter seems to be very much in tune with the situation and what is called for.  He is a professional fisherman, and a tired one at that, and his first response to the Lord shows what he thinks will happen; nevertheless, he puts himself and his crew into the Lord's hands and very simply does what the Lord asks him to do. 

This is trust and humility, but at root it is also and primarily faith.  An English Protestant evangelist of the 19th century, Oswald Chambers, once stated that “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”  That is what is happening here, and it is at the root of why Jesus takes Peter to be one of those closest to him in his work and even in his passion.  Peter will love Jesus, will continually fail even after Pentecost, and yet will be the leader of the Twelve and of the Church. 

Can we have the same faith, the same love of the Lord?  Are we able to let our sins and our sinfulness not hold us back from doing what good we can in Jesus' Name --- or from turning back to him again and again when we fail? 

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chaskest@creighton.edu

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