Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 4, 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.
In praying with this gospel, the same two words kept surfacing—pressing in. I imagine Jesus slowly pushed closer and closer to the shore until he had no choice but to hop into a boat to avoid being overcome by the growing crowd drawn to him. The calm of the lake and the fishing boat that Simon Peter stepped out of after a fruitless night of fishing provided the welcome space for Jesus.
This pressing in reminded me of preparing for a short presentation on discernment this past summer. Initially, I was honored to share from my deep dive into Ignatian spirituality over the last few years, but as the meeting grew near, I definitely felt a pressing in. As a novice student, I felt the weight of the task and the growing doubt in my abilities.
Unlike Jesus, who found the space he needed in the boat just offshore, I was tied up in the knots of the net, pouring over my class notes, focusing on my shortcomings, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the subject. However, I began to sense Jesus encouraging me to release my anxiety and self-reliance, to make some space for him, to press in myself and put out into deep water.
As I did so, much like Simon Peter, I was astonished at the bountiful graces that were gathered. On presentation day, I was amazed at the ease with which I was able to share from my notes and my lived experience, and for the fruitful discussions about how we’ve all experienced God at work in our lives.
St. Ignatius used a word acatamiento—best translated as affectionate awe—for his experience of a breathtaking, otherworldly God who at the same time is an intimate companion entrenched in our everyday. I think that’s likely how Peter felt as he fell at Jesus’ feet and how I felt leaving the group that day, awed by the abundant, undeserved nearness of Jesus and his invitation to make space, press in, and follow him. Clearly, an invitation to all of us!
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
The best information we have of St. Rosalia’s life comes from the evidence we have of the medieval Church’s devotion to her. Churches dedicated to her, inscriptions, and paintings reveal details of her life.
She was born in Sicily around 1130 to a family of nobles; she is said to be a descendant of Charlemagne.
While she was still young, she felt a call to dedicate her life to God. She left home to seek holiness in solitude and went to live in a cave near her parent’s home and spent the rest of her life in it. She lived her whole life apart from the world, consumed in prayer, and died alone and forgotten.
Five hundred years later, as a plague was troubling the nearby city of Palermo, she appeared in a vision to a victim and led him to the cave where she died. Her bones were discovered, and inscribed on the wall were these words: “I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses, and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.” Also found were a clay crucifix, a Greek cross of silver, and a string of beads (an early form of the Rosary).
Her relics were carried in procession through Palermo. Three days later the plague ended, her intercession was credited as having saved the city, and she was declared its patron.
Relics of St. Rosalia rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Rosalia, who gave her life to prayer and saved a city—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Rosalia is in the public domain. Last accessed April 2, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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