Faithful Foolishness
Sep 5: Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings are about faithfulness and foolishness, and how one can be mistaken for the other in the eyes of the world. Peter’s been a fisherman his entire life; he knows what he’s doing. After fishing all night, he knows it would be foolish to cast his net one more time. And yet he does, and is rewarded for his faith.
Reading 1
1 Cor 3:18-23
Brothers and sisters: Let no one deceive himself. If anyone 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: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Even though we ourselves are limited, we shouldn’t ally ourselves strictly to this or that wise preacher, even someone like St. Paul.
They all belong to Christ, as do we.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R. (1) To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.
This song was sung as the ark was brought into the temple. The temple itself was designed to reflect the story of creation. And so by following the ark, the people of Israel followed God, literally and figuratively.
Alleluia
Mt 4:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come after me, says the Lord,
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One of my first posts here was expressing amazement at the fact that this pun works in Aramaic (which Jesus spoke), Greek (the language in which it was written), and English (what you’re obviously reading right now).
Gospel
Lk 5:1-11
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.
Sometimes we have faith that moves mountains. Sometimes, we’re not as confident in all this Jesus business. And yet, we do what we’re asked, anyway. Such is the case with (Simon) Peter today. He doesn’t have enough faith to believe that casting the net will do any good, but (and this is the important part) he does anyway.
It’s like what C.S. Lewis says about faith: “Roughly speaking, the word faith seems to be used by Christians in two senses or on two levels... In the first sense it means simply belief—accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity. Faith, in the [second] sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding onto things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes.”
Peter’s been on a boat all night, and hasn’t caught a single fish. He’s tired, he’s sweaty, he’s in no mood for some carpenter to tell him how to catch fish. And yet… he puts his faith in Christ. We does what Jesus asks, even if he doesn’t understand, or even fully believe. He does it anyway.
It’s probably among the hardest lessons for Catholics to learn, when it comes to our faithful actions with respect to God and the Church. The sacraments are important, Sunday mass is important, faithful obedience to God’s commandments is important. Even if we don’t get it, even if we don’t understand, if we have questions, faith compels us to do the work anyway.