Homily for February 10, 2013 - 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Let Us Go Fishin'

When I think of Fishing, I think of a sign hanging on a store front door … “GONE FISHING”. The important thing is the sport fishing is more fun than working no matter what you catch. Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says: “A BAD DAY FISHING IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY WORKING”? If we have that kind of attitude about fishin’ we will enjoy ourselves whether we are successful at catching fish or not. We will have fun and relax and will be the only one that will benefit.

But if we are concerned about catching fish then we need to prepare and take it seriously. And, if we live for fishing for men then we have to ask ourselves: Have we been caught ourselves by Jesus and His Church? Do we remember the time when we became aware that we had been cleansed from our uncleanliness?Can we recall when we had unclean lips, and in God’s mercy we felt His forgiveness as Isaiah did? Shortly following his cleansing he was called to go forward and speak for God to God’s people.

Or, maybe we were knocked off our horse as Paul was as he went about persecuting Jesus and His Church. He was blinded because he had not been looking in God’s direction and God felt that it was better that he didn’t see anything for a while. God wanted Paul to focus on the things that God wanted said, and He called him to speak out about the salvation that Jesus offers to all people who put their trust in Him.

Can we remember when, even though we felt unqualified to share God’s message, we realized that when we obey His call to fish for men, we can expect a miracle to happen in people’s hearts.

I was ministering to a person who had gone through a hurtful divorce which broke up the family. Through all the anxiety this person turned to alcohol and was going down hill. AA meetings didn’t work at all. My advice to return to the church was not received well and this went on for a couple of years. A month ago I thought I would try a different and stronger approach. I told this person that he should go to confession. I really didn’t think it would actually motivate him. I wasn’t expecting the miracle that was about to happen. I shared that people were returning to the church after years away and were coming back through this wonderful sacrament of reconciliation. I thought that advice too would go unheeded. But the response was immediate and the miracle was life-altering. The priest told him that he wanted to pray about his situation and asked him to return the following week. This person returned the following week and more. He returned to Mass and found three new AA meetings in the area and all were very welcoming and had meaningful sharing. It was the first positive conversation that we have had in two years.

Today’s Gospel reminded me that Peter too wasn’t sure about a miracle happening but he obeyed even though his fisherman’s brain told him it was fruitless. When we fish for men we listen to the Holy Spirit and expect Jesus to heal hearts.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan challenges us with these words:

“The New Evangelization reminds us that the very agents of evangelization must first be evangelized themselves”.

“Thus I believe that the primary sacrament of the New Evangelization is the sacrament of penance, and I thank Pope Benedict for reminding us of this”.

“…. the sacrament of reconciliation evangelizes the evangelizers, as it brings us sacramentally into contact with Jesus, who calls us to conversion of heart, and inspires us to answer His invitation to repentance”.

Let us resolve to hear the Holy Spirit’s call to repentance this lent and let the grace of this sacrament call us to be fishers of men. When we are successful our families, our communities and our world will be a better place because of our efforts.

Deacon Tony