＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Colossians 1: 9-14

Because of this, from the day we received news of you,

we have not ceased praying to God for you, that you may attain the full knowledge of his will through all the gifts of wisdom and spiritual understanding.

May your lifestyle be worthy of the Lord and completely pleasing to him. May you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. May you become strong in everything by a sharing of the Glory of God, so that you may have great endurance and persevere in joy.

Constantly give thanks to the Father who has empowered us to receive our share in the in­heritance of the saints in his kingdom of light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.  In him we are redeemed and forgiven.

  

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 5: 1-11

One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats left at the water’s edge by the fishermen now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat and continued to teach the crowd.

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.”  This they did and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

 Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made  and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebe­dee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.”  So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.

 

Reflection gospel：

“IF YOUSAY SO. I WILL LOWER THE NETS.“

Australian Catholic New Testament scholar Brendan Byrne SJ has a beautiful phrase to capture the essence of Jesus’ ministry from a different perspective, that is, “people-catching’ trade” in comparison to the fishing-for-fish trade of Simon and his companions. The notion of people-catching expresses the bringing in of people into the loving embrace of the reign of God by means of the nets of preaching the good news, healing, forgiveness and reconciling these nets constitute Jesus’ saving ministry, and they are designed to gather people for God.

We, members of the Church, are now partners in this people catching trade of Jesus because we were once “caught” into these nets. Those who are caught in the nets become themselves teachers of the good news. And agents of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. We participate in Jesus’ people-catching trade to “bring [people] the more abundant life of the kingdom” (Brendan Byrne). As co-workers in the trade, we help reclaim the dignity and value of all God’s creation, humans and nonhumans alike.