Jesus' Trust and Faith in the Apostles

In today’s Gospel, John 21-1-19, Peter and six of his companion apostles go fishing.  They work all night long and catch nothing. Jesus meets them in the morning on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias and asks them if they have caught anything to eat. “No,” they respond.  Jesus suggests that they cast the net over the right side of the boat and “you will find something.” Without hesitation, they do so and caught 153 large fish! 

Following a suggestion that seems ludicrous doesn’t sound like me at all, and perhaps not like you either.  How often have we not been at a task “all night long” with no results? Or, we are considering a task and throw up our hands, saying: “It will not work. Why bother?” And we walk away, doing nothing. What if we had followed the Spirit’s lead and tried one more time and, perhaps, tried a different tactic, one, in fact, that seemed impossible, even foolish!  Sometimes, faith invites us to “cast the net over the right side of the boat,” even though we have been “fishing all night long and caught nothing.”  And how often, like the apostles, who did not recognize Jesus on the shore, do we not recognize the voice of the Spirit inviting us to an action that we think is futile.

Would you and I know Jesus, if the apostles had given up in the face of all of the obstacles they encountered in spreading the faith in Jesus’ resurrection?  Where would you and I be in our spiritual and professional lives, in our interpersonal relationships, in our marriages, in community life lived by women and men religious, if our parents, teachers, mentors or counselors had given up when we rebelled against their guidance?  How will your children develop strong characters if you give up on them?

"I will it. Be made clean"

In today’s Gospel (Mark 1: 40-45), a leper reaches out to Jesus, bows before Him and says: “If you wish, you can make me clean.”   Jesus is moved to pity and says: “I will it. Be made clean.”  Jesus is revealing to us who God is—a God of compassion, a God willing to risk His life for our well being,  our wholeness, our reinstatement, our inclusion, our being one with God and all His Holy ones for all eternity.  Notice that there is no hesitation on Jesus’ part when the leper asked to be cleansed and brought back into the community.  None! Am I, like the leper, willing to reach out to Jesus or do I see myself as unworthy to be in His presence, to receive the fullness of God’s love, to know that God and I are one, as Jesus and the Father are one, brought into union by the blood of Christ.  God longs for us to be where He is. God longs for us to be open to the greatness of His love, a love that spared not His only begotten Son so that we would no longer be separate from, apart from, the One who loved us unto death, death on a cross.

"My servant is paralyzed"

Notice  in today's Gospel (Mt. 8: 5-11) a centurion in a matter-of-fact manner telling Jesus that his servant is at home paralyzed.  Think for a moment of sharing a major concern with Jesus as you encounter Him throughout the day and believing that Jesus can help you, beyond a doubt, and is as concerned as you are.  Without a formal request, Jesus says to you: "I will help." "I'll be there for you." "I'll do whatever needs to be done to rectify this situation for you." "I will do whatever needs to be done."  That is the kind of person Jesus is: compassionate, understanding, insightful, intuitive, caring, looking for ways to assist you. 

We might also ask ourselves in light of the Scriptures: what in my life is paralyzed, not engaging, not life-giving, not love-generating, not reconciling?  What within me is paralyzing my faith, my hope, my love, my way of being there for others?  And bring all of that to the Lord, honestly sharing our concerns with him concerning our own paralyzing states.