The Gospel Spoke to Me (Part One)

Did you ever have moments when a Gospel reading grabs hold of you & won't let go? That's what happened to me w/ Luke 5:1-11 last weekend. Saturday at work, I was reading the chapter on St. Peter in My Life with the Saints by James Martin, SJ. He was reflecting on how his study of St. Peter helped shape his spiritual life & included the Gospel passage when Peter was called to be a disciple of Jesus.

Later, I was studying the readings for the next day's Mass. Lo & behold...it was that same Gospel. Wow! What a coincidence...or not!?! I'm thinking it was more of a God-incidence! (I'm not sure where I heard that term, but I REALLY like it!)

Obviously I heard the Gospel during Mass Sunday, so now I'm at three times in one weekend. Our deacon gave a very touching homily. He was talking about all of us being called by God in some way...mothers, priests, doctors, etc. He shared his many year-long call to the diaconate. I was almost in tears as I listened to his account of missing something for so many years when on the outside his life looked perfect.

I was left w/ a lot to ponder & reflect upon, but was God finished trying to get my attention. NOPE! On Monday morning, we started our school day reading our next section of The Life of Our Lord for Children. Can you guess what story of Jesus I read to the munchkins?

So, for the last week I've been trying to figure out what God has been trying to tell me in these four encounters with Luke 5:1-11. I don't have it all figured out (& most likely, never will). What is God calling ME to do? What are the gentle (& not-so-gentle) nudges I'm getting from Him?

God calls each of us according to our abilities & each of us has something different to contribute. If all of us were teachers, who would heal the sick? If all of us were lawyers, who would tend to farms? If all of us were singers, who would play the instruments? As Mother Teresa once said, "You can do something I can't do. I can do something you can't do. Together let us do something beautiful for God."

(to be continued)