Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 9, 2025
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.
Jesus didn’t ask Peter’s permission to get into his boat; he just got in. Furthermore, after a night of unsuccessful fishing, Jesus, the carpenter, told Peter, the fisherman, to go fishing again in the daytime in deep waters. Even today, everyone knows it’s not great to fish in the heat of the day, only in the cool evening or morning air.
Though hesitant, Peter did as he was told and surprisingly caught record numbers of fish. Peter repented, realizing that following the call of Jesus, all things are possible because it is Jesus working through us.
In my daily phone call from California to my aging parents in Pennsylvania, I shared that I was going on a missionary trip to Africa. My father listened and asked, “What would you do there, and for how long?” After answering, a brief silence followed. Then he suddenly blurted out, “Can we be your Africa too?” My world stood still. I heard the father’s voice clearly calling me to serve, but in a way that didn’t initially make sense to me. However, without hesitation, I replied, “Of course, you can be my Africa.”
I knew it shouldn’t have been me. I was the squeamish sister who fainted at the sight of blood, unlike my sister, the nurse. I was never good at sorting out wills and legal documents, unlike my other sister, the lawyer. I was just a liturgist and a musician. Yet, I said yes to minister to my parents once a month over the next two years and filled my nets with abundant blessings. I had all the grace I needed to serve them in sickness and health and accompanied them until the Lord called them home.
Thank you, Jesus, for getting into my boat. Dear reader, watch out! Jesus will get in your boat, too!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have given us all that is good. You constantly call us to put out into the deep in service to you and to one another. Give us the courage to listen to your commands, and to be fearless in our baptismal call to holiness. Help us to find ways to serve rather than to be served, even if those ways may be small or unseen by others. May we be faithful in our vocations to do your will rather than our own, and make you known, loved, and served. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Apollonia was an early Christian martyr who mocked her persecutors for trying to force her to renounce her faith.
We have a record of an early Christian bishop from Alexandria who wrote a letter recounting how Christians in that city had been persecuted. In the year 249, non-believers in Alexandria rioted against Christians, seizing them and attempting to force them to blaspheme against God. As Christians fled the city, leaving all their belongings, the crowd stoned an elderly man to death for refusing to renounce his faith. When another woman addressed their idols with scorn, they stoned her as well.
The mob grabbed Apollonia, an elderly deaconess, and beat her. They built a bonfire and threatened to throw her into it unless she blasphemed and renounced Christ. She asked for a few minutes to consider her choice, and when they released their hold on her for a moment, she lept into the flames on her own as a sign that she gave her life of her own free will.
St. Apollonia’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and she is depicted in this mural there. She is patron saint against toothaches and dental diseases because she had her teeth knocked out when she was beaten up.
St. Apollonia, patron saint against toothaches, pray for us!