If only ministry members and those in leadership were ever so encouraging like St. Paul and his fellow apostles in today’s first reading. How they prayed hard for the disciples of Christ to gain full knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the Lord’s will, so that following after Him, even amidst trials and tribulations, they will come to the full knowledge of His love by God our Father’s son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has brought us all into The His light.
We no longer stumble in darkness but walk steadily and forward like a lamp onto our feet. Even though there will are times when we are weary and perhaps downcast, disappointed perhaps that we are not as fruitful as we would like to be, the Lord assures us that He is with us. And thus, being obedient to listen to His word and will for us, we shall bring in a huge harvest, like St. Peter did with his fellow disciples when he obediently listened to the Lord.
Lord Jesus, let Your will be done now and forever. Amen.
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First reading
Colossians 1:9-14 ·
God has taken us out of the power of darkness
Ever since the day we heard about you, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
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Gospel
Luke 5:1-11
They left everything and followed him
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
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