5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr C (February 9, 2025)
Luke 5:1-11
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Lk 5:5)
God’s call is universal. Every person is endowed with potential for union with the Divine and it is that person’s call in life to live in such a way as to bring that potential into fruition. It is a personal call and this union with God is lived out according to each one’s own particular life’s journey. For some it is marriage, for others, a career, for other’s still, it is a call to the consecrated life or priesthood. The calls are myriad. But to all, it is a call to live open to the Spirit of God. God desires to love and be loved by each person and has placed within us a capacity for union with him.
Today’s readings speak of that call, of that desire of the heart of God for us which lies deep in our beings. Our first reading from Isaiah concludes with, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’” “Send me” into the deepest reaches of my being where you dwell and from there send me to bring you into my life through faith. Send me to love, to serve, to live the dailiness of my life, open to divine presence.
In the Gospel today, Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. Fishermen were there washing their nets, and he asked them if he could borrow one of their boats. It just so happened that it was Peter’s boat and Jesus asked him to put out a short distance so he could speak to the people who were gathering in droves to hear him. When he finished teaching, he asked Simon to put out into the deep and lower the nets. Peter stated the obvious, that they hadn’t caught a single fish all night. But the call of Jesus resonated in his heart. He did what Jesus asked. In that moment the transforming love of Jesus placed him on his life’s journey to be his disciple. And from the depths of his being, Peter responded to a call that changed everything for him. ‘Here I am!’ ‘Send me.’
Jesus, here we are. Send us! Send us into the quiet places of our being where you dwell and transform us. And from there, send us forth each day into the call that is our life.