5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Looking back at our life, we may recognize a particular person or a specific experience that caused us to make a significant change or to go in a different direction than we would have otherwise. Hopefully, the change was good, enabling us to think bigger, do better things, and use our talents in a way that we had not considered before. This is what happens in today’s readings. Isaiah is called by God to be his prophet (Isaiah 6:1-8). In the beginning, Isaiah does not feel worthy of this call, but by the end of today’s First Reading, he is responding with “Here I am, send me!”

It is a similar experience for Simon in today’s Gospel (Luke 5:1-11). Simon and his fishing companions are getting out of their boats and washing their nets after having been fishing all night without catching anything. But by the end of this Gospel, the same fishermen have abandoned their boats, left everything, and followed Jesus. What a remarkable turnaround!

This transformation in Simon did not begin with Jesus saying “follow me” from the very beginning. Instead, Jesus eases Simon and the others into discipleship. He tells them to “Put out a short distance.” This may have annoyed them at first as they were tired from having fished all night and were discouraged at having caught nothing. But Simon did take his boat out a short distance from the shore, and he could no doubt hear Jesus, as our Lord spoke to the crowds teaching them. Then Jesus took Simon a second step, instructing him to “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” At first, Simon objected, pointing out that they had worked all night and caught nothing, but then he agreed to do as Jesus had said, and they caught so many fish that their nets were in danger of tearing. Simon is astonished. By the time they return to shore with their large catch of fish, they leave everything and follow Jesus.

This encounter applies to our lives as well. Jesus doesn’t necessarily ask us to leave everything right away. Sometimes he comes to us in ways that we can accept, bit by bit, just as he did with Simon. And just like Simon, we come to know Jesus better and better as we commit to following him more closely in our lives.

Jesus will meet us where we are. Little by little he will invite us to take the next step toward becoming faithful disciples. It is not something we will accomplish on our own but only with the gift of God’s grace. Little by little our lives will change, and our “catch” will be overflowing.