A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
(Glory to you O Lord!)
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 the boats 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 (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!).
Reflection: Jesus calls us to follow Him
Today we are celebrating the memorial of St. Gregory, Pope and Doctor of the church. Gregory was the son of a Roman regionarius. He was educated by the finest teachers of Rome and became an administrator in his late 20s, a prefect of Rome.
When his father died, Gregory sold his possessions, turned his home into a monastery, and he used his inheritance to build 6 more monasteries. He chose to live the contemplative life as a monk. He was later ordained as a deacon by Pope Pelagius 2, and he obeyed the call to serve as an ambassador to Constantinople.
After Pelagius died, Gregory was elected pope. He reformed the papacy and the leadership, he ransomed prisoners from captivity with the church’s treasury and helped the poor. He sent missionaries out to other countries to share about our Lord Jesus and God’s kingdom, and he encouraged everyone to contemplate the teachings of Jesus and to live out the authentic life… to follow Christ in daily life.
Just like Simon and his companions in the Gospel reading of Luke, St. Gregory was called by God to follow Jesus, to deny himself and follow Him.
We … are also called by God to follow Jesus… to make a difference with the blessings, gifts and abilities that we have … to help others, to share Jesus’ message of love, kindness and mercy … to follow Jesus by living out our faith.
Through the busyness of our daily lives, the distractions that we face… at work, with our families, when we are out and about…Jesus calls us to holiness, in our thoughts and actions.
If a choice we face leads to joy and peace, of helping and uplifting one another, …it is our Lord Jesus prompting and calling us! Sisters and brothers, may we always choose the prompting of our Lord Jesus towards helping and loving one another with all our decisions.
Action for the Day:
In silent prayer, share our gratitude to our Lord. Lift our concerns and petitions to God, ask to be guided by his Spirit with his wisdom and strength, then contemplate the promptings that Jesus prompts us in our minds and hearts on how we can make a difference for sharing kindness, joy, mercy, forgiveness, peace and love to everyone that we meet.
DEACON5 website link: https://deacon5.com/
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