While I was on a silent retreat for priests last week, the key question I reflected on was: "GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?"
This question is relevant to all of us. GOD IS CALLING EVERYONE! CAN YOU HEAR HIM? ARE YOU LISTENING? CAN YOU HEAR WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO FOR HIM? ARE YOU PREPARED TO OBEY HIM AND TAKE A STEP TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW?
The Retreat Master, Father Brendan would meet with all of us for a short time twice a day and will keep provoking us with questions. He would also give us some key Scripture passages to meditate on. The theme of the retreat was: "JOURNEY HOME TO THE HEART OF GOD". Each participant priest was encouraged to have a "Heart to Heart" conversation with Jesus.
We all want to “DO GOD's WILL.” It is easy to say in the most beautiful prayer that Jesus taught us: "Our Father who art in Heaven...THY WILL BE DONE on earth as it is in heaven". We may repeat that prayer ten times every day, but do we know what God’s will is. How do we discern God's will?
One way to hear God talk to us is to meditate on the Scriptures and hear Him whisper to us in the silence of our hearts. This is the well-known way of praying through Lectio Divina.
Last Sunday, we were all blessed to hear the amazing encounter of Jesus with his first disciples as narrated by St Luke (Luke 5:1-11). I am inviting you today to put yourself in the powerful story of this encounter. You can choose. You can be one of the many people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee listening to the Word of God: listening to Jesus speaking to you from the boat of Simon Peter, and then observing. Or you can choose to be one of his first disciples: SIMON PETER, JAMES, or JOHN, being already in the boat with Jesus. Then read the entire passage slowly. Pause if a word touches you. Meditate on that word or sentence: how does it help you in your own relationship with God. Let the Word of God enter into the silence of your heart. What is Jesus telling you?
For me as your pastor, this encounter of Jesus with his first disciples reminds me of my own pilgrimage to Israel as a "young" seminarian 16 years ago. We were 12 seminarians from St John XXIII Seminary in Boston. Our spiritual leader was Father Fitzpatrick our own Scripture Teacher. He celebrated the Mass with us at the outdoor altar on the very shore where the miraculous catching of fish took place. This was for me truly heaven on earth. It affirmed my vocation to the priesthood! It reminded me that I heard the call to the priesthood when I was 12-year old: to be a missionary priest to Africa! Having heard that MARY will always protect me, I had felt deeply in my heart that I could do anything ! I did not follow that call, but I did when I heard God calling me to the permanent diaconate program 40 years later( in 2000) and then led me to hearing the call to the priesthood 5 years later.
This Gospel also reminds me of last week's retreat at the Loyola on the Potomac Retreat Center. I spent a lot of time praying alone walking along the shore of the Potomac River. Given the cold weather, there were no boats to be seen. But I could imagine the first encounter of Jesus and Simon Peter...What also came to my mind is how SAFE I was being on the SHORE as opposed to being on a boat far away from the shore, and subject to sudden storms and high waves. I could hear Jesus say to Simon Peter “PUT OUT IN DEEP WATER and LOWER YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH" and Simon Peter respond: “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but AT YOUR COMMAND I will lower the nets.” Simon Peter obeyed and it led to a miraculous catch of fish. with God, everything is possible, including MIRACLES!
For me, Jesus’s message is clear: HE wants all of us to take some risk, to change our lives. He wants us to go out of our comfort zone: it is not sufficient for Him that we remain as a spectator on the shore. He wants us to join Him and Peter on the boat which represents the Church. He wants us to leave the comfortable shore. He tells us: DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM WITH YOU! He wants us to go far away from the shore, to lower our nets and be "catching men": helping people who are not following Jesus to join HIM and us in the church (the boat). The question remains: HOW CAN WE BE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES and TRUE DISCIPLES OF JESUS in our daily lives? It is difficult but LISTEN to JESUS! JESUS TELLS US:
"Surrender to me and I will do everything for you! Do not be afraid! I am always with you, TRUST IN ME! I will give you the GRACE to LISTEN to MY WORD (the good news of the Gospel)! Open your hearts to the LOVE AND FIRE OF MY HOLY SPIRIT! Keep being nourished spiritually , especially by receiving frequently my Sacraments of RECONCILLIATION AND EUCHARIST! Ask me what you want me to do for you and I will do it!
One in Christ,
Fr. Alain