September 06, 2012
Thursday – Weekday
by Rev. Fr. Matthieu Dauchez
Morning Mass at EDSA Shrine, Our
Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish
1 While the people pressed upon him to
hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes'aret. 2 And he saw two boats by the lake; but
the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which
was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down
and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had ceased speaking, he
said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a
catch." 5 And Simon answered,
"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let
down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as
their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.
And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord." 9 For he was astonished,
and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons
of Zeb'edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do
not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats
to land, they left everything and followed him.
HOMILY
The Gospel today
focuses on "catching fish into deep waters", and these symbols
pertain to evangelization, and our need to evangelize each other. But the
Word of God is not only for us to speak; we also have to act according to what
we announce - to act according to what we believe.
When we announce something, we must be consistent with the Gospel that we are announcing. Then we can hope - then people will believe us and believe in God's Word. People should see in the concrete that we are consistent in our words and in our action. Our words of love should be equated with action; there should be consistency in our lives. We do not believe in love without action, Amen.
When we announce something, we must be consistent with the Gospel that we are announcing. Then we can hope - then people will believe us and believe in God's Word. People should see in the concrete that we are consistent in our words and in our action. Our words of love should be equated with action; there should be consistency in our lives. We do not believe in love without action, Amen.
