They Left Everything

September 4, 2008

Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: “He catches the wise in their own ruses.” 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

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. Luke 5:9-11

Piety

Let us pray: Father, help us to avoid deceiving ourselves. Make sure that we understand that we came into this world with everything we need…your love…and we will leave it with the same possession. Jesus, help us to free ourselves from all the weights that we have tied around our collective necks so that we can follow you like Peter and James did. Holy Spirit, this work will be hard. Give us the fortitude to leave behind our fears along with our possessions to we can embark upon the mission that the Lord has reserved for us. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/090408.shtml

The expert fishermen among the disciples thought they were wise enough to know where to haul in a good catch. However, they were not meeting with much success until they followed the instructions of the carpenter’s son from Nazareth.

All the knowledge about fishing did these men no good on this day. On this day, they were out to learn a lesson from Jesus. Jesus instead was out to do the catching. “He catches the wise in their own ruses.”

The notes to the New American Bible teach us that the verses in Corinthians “pick up the line of thought of 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise, then their perceptions would be reversed, and they would see everything in the world and all those with whom they exist in the church in their true relations with one another.” The same could be said of Peter and his gang today. As they learned the wisdom of Christ, they learned that they had to give up everything in order to inherit the Kingdom.

A second lesson in Corinthians outlined by the NAB involves the ownership of property and the obligation to serve. “Paul assigns all the persons involved in the theological universe a position on a scale: God, Christ, church members, church leaders. Read from top to bottom, the scale expresses ownership; read from bottom to top, the obligation to serve.”

There are many similarities between the wondrous catch of fish reported here and the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus at the end of John’s Gospel. Of utmost significance is the acceptance of Jesus, His mission and His ministry by Simon and his disciples. The disciples abandon all of their property and follow Jesus, serving the Church and the members of the Church. They left everything to follow Jesus.

Action

The late U.S. Senator Paul Simon wrote a simple little book called Fifty-Two Simple Ways to Make a Difference published in Minneapolis by Augsburg Books in 2004. Some of his ideas are interesting concepts for action by Cursillistas. In the coming weeks, I will share some of Senator Simon’s ideas as they apply to our daily readings.

Chapter 5 is entitled, “You Get What You Give.” In it, Simon tells the story of retired Air Force veteran Wayne Wilson who runs a little hotel gift shop in Columbus, Ohio. Wilson makes a point of making sure people walk out of his shop not only with newspapers, magazines, toothpaste and other sundries that they purchase but he also wants them to leave feeling better than when they came in. “Just as hatred and bitterness are contagious, so are friendliness and warmth,” writes Sen. Simon. “Be good and friendly to others and they will respond to you in the same way.”

Be a giver.