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Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
On the surface, we may associate this day with parades, dancing, Guinness, soda bread, and even the Chicago River dyed green.
But behind this feast is the remarkable story of a man whose life and legacy still speaks to us today.
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When he was a boy, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He spent the next several years suffering terribly from hunger and the cold.
Eventually, he escaped and made his way back to Britain, where he entered the seminary and became a priest, serving locally for 20 years.
One night Patrick had a dream. A voice with an Irish accent pleaded with him, “We appeal to you, to come and walk among us.” Patrick knew the call came from the Lord, so he returned to Ireland as a free man.
Imagine the courage it took for Patrick to return to the land that once enslaved him as memories of hunger and the cold raced through his mind. But he went anyway, spending the final 28 years of his life spreading the Catholic faith amongst the Irish.
With the help of his friends and the grace of the Holy Spirit, he converted an entire nation. Today 90% of Ireland still identifies as Catholic!
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Imagine what the Church could do, locally and at large, if we embraced Patrick’s courageous spirit, sharing our faith with others one word, one gesture, one invite at a time.
If humility were our daily bread.
If we did not allow memories of rejection or mistreatment to freeze us; rather, we let love thaw our hearts, spurring us onward. If we developed a spirit of obedience to the Lord, eagerly following him from sea to shining sea.
Together, we would – and can – rebuild the Church.
Saint Patrick, pray for us!
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Image credits: (1) The Week (2) Krystal Craven Christian Music (3) Prayer of Saint Patrick, Amazon.com