A Letter from Fr. Paul - Sunday, May 1st

Our Gospel story this weekend is the appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples as they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberius, also known as the Sea of Galilee.  Notice how similar it is to Luke’s version of the call of the first disciples: they were fishing all night and caught nothing, they do what Jesus tells them and get an abundance; and it ends with a commission from Jesus. At the first call, it is “from now on, you will be fishers of people.”  In this resurrection story, it is “feed my lambs…tend my sheep...feed my sheep.”
 
In both stories, they were fishing all night and caught nothing.  But, with the light of Christ, there is an overwhelming abundance. Jesus turned a losing situation into a win.
 
There is a strong message for us.  It is easy for us to say, I can’t be a good disciple because I am a sinner (any worse than Peter who
denied Christ three times after boasting that he would die for him?); I can’t be a good disciple because I am a nobody (any less than an uneducated fisherman?); I can’t be a good disciple because I don’t know what to do (do you think Peter knew exactly what to do and what would happen?).  With the light of Christ, our failings and
deficiencies will become an abundance.  And that light is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate at Pentecost.
 
In the five weeks remaining of our preparation to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us reflect on the abundance of grace that the Holy Spirit can bring to others from our simple, though sometimes
faltering, efforts to bring Christ’s love and forgiveness to our world.  We don’t have to be important, we don’t have to be perfect: we simply have to do our best to live as Christ did. The Holy Spirit will take over from there.  God bless.
 
Church sign of the week: One day, you’ll be just a memory.  Make it a good one.