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Peter came up short. 

Although he’s a professional fisherman, he failed to make a single catch. 

He must’ve been down in the dumps – the perfect time to meet the Christ.

Jesus will take Peter’s empty nets and fill them with souls hungry for God. “I will make you a fisher of men,” he says.

This becomes the first lesson Peter learns from Jesus: God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. 

But first we must lower our nets.

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How many of us have felt like Peter – inadequate, ill-equipped? As if we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing?

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Think of the thousands of teachers preparing for another school year – either virtually, in person, or both. Their students are coming, but some teachers feel like they have empty classrooms, empty nets. 

Supplies are still on their way; cameras are still being installed for livestreaming; lesson plans are being adjusted on the fly. 

Students and parents must be feeling nervous, too. Is it really possible to learn under such stress? COVID has thrown everyone off balance; it’s a year unlike any other.

This may be the perfect time to meet the Christ. 

If we are willing, Jesus will provide the energy, the ideas, and the creativity we need to succeed. Like Peter, he will make us, “fishers of men.”

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Will we lower our nets?

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Trust that Jesus will do the rest.

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“In the synagogue, there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon” (Luke 4:33).

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The synagogue was a holy place.

Why, then, is there a man with an unclean spirit present???

Surely, he’s out of place.

Or is he?

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Perhaps he was a conflicted man, both a believer and a sinner – a man who knew he was under the power of something stronger than himself.

Maybe he went to the synagogue that day hoping to be set free.

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How many of us feel the same way?

We need Jesus to set us free from jealousy, judgmental thoughts, anger, impatience, greed, addiction, anxiety, or a residual grudge?

As someone said, “The greatest sin is thinking you have none.”

So, we find ourselves imperfect, but in a holy place hoping to be set free.

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Jesus can do it. He will do it. Sometimes the healing work of the Spirit is instant, as it is in the Gospel.

But most often it takes time.

We need patience with ourselves – and with others – while the Lord works to set us free. As Saint Paul says, “God, who has begun this good work within you, will bring it to fulfillment.”

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Did you hear about the rock climber who attempted to scale a large mountain?

About halfway up, he slips and nearly falls to his death. Somehow, he manages to catch himself, but is left dangling by his right hand.

Stunned, he cries out, “Help! Is anybody there?”

Silence. He cries a second and a third time. Finally, a voice whispers in his ear, “I am God. I’m here to help you. Though you can’t see it, there’s a ledge just beneath you. Let go and you’ll land safely.” 

The climber pauses…thinks…and cries out, “Is anybody else there???”

***

The climber asked for an answer…and he got one! It’s just not the response he wanted.

How often does that happen to us? We pray for something – and God responds – just not the way we want.

This was also true for the Jews in the Gospel. Their faith was centered around the promise that one day God would visit them. And he does! 

But instead of appearing in a fiery blaze of glory, God comes to them in Jesus, a humble carpenter from Nazareth. Not exactly the response they wanted. 

Is anybody else there??

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How often do we say something similar? Is there anybody else there?

Maybe God closes a door we wanted open; he inspires us to take the road less traveled; he chooses not to heal our loved one; he urges us to take a faith-centered risk.

These answers, although not what we may want, somehow work for our benefit.

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Think of that rock climber left dangling from a cliff.

Instead of crying out, “Is anybody else there?”, he can let go and let God. He’ll be relieved if he does!

So will we be, if we let go and let God. So, if you find yourself dangling from a cliff, perhaps it’d help to recite that old prayer for surrender:

“God, grant me the grace to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”