WEBVTT 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:04.740 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:08.539 of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:14.939 This morning we had two gospel readings and, 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:18.839 of course, two epistle readings. The second one 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:24.519 was for the movable feast, the Saints of North 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:29.000 America. And the first one, from St. Lou, was 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.469 about the miraculous catch of fish. And it's 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:36.530 that first one that I want to focus on in the 00:00:36.530 --> 00:00:42.929 words that I'm about to share with you. You might 00:00:42.929 --> 00:00:48.229 have noticed there's a certain logic to our epistle 00:00:48.229 --> 00:00:52.909 and gospel readings. After the Feast of the Holy 00:00:52.909 --> 00:00:58.549 Cross, we shift into gospel readings from St. 00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:02.659 Luke. This is what is popularly called the Lucan 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:07.760 jump. We jump from St. Matthew's Gospels to St. 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:12.599 Luke's. And St. Luke has a definite structure 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:18.159 to his Gospel. We begin with the infancy narratives. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:23.420 Much of this information from tradition we believe 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:27.159 he received. from the Virgin Mary because of 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:31.060 its content, the Annunciation, and the birth 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:37.299 of John the Baptist, and of course our Lord's 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:44.400 birth, etc. And then his baptism. And then he 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.280 moves out after his baptism. Jesus goes on retreat, 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:53.519 so to speak. He goes into the desert for 40 days 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.760 and 40 nights, and there he is tempted by the 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.040 devil. This retreat was to strengthen him for 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:07.260 his public ministry. And his public ministry, 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:11.219 he, after this time in the desert, in the wilderness, 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:16.879 Jesus went back to his hometown, Nazareth, and 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:23.219 there began his public ministry. The people were 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:28.240 astonished at his teachings, at his teachings 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:36.439 and at his wisdom. This astonishment was seen 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.400 in the first several miracles that he performed. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:44.759 And then what I think is particularly significant 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.780 is the one where Jesus went to the synagogue 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:55.340 on Saturday. And it was his turn to read, and 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:58.319 he took up the prophecy of Isaiah when the book 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.719 was handed to him. Apparently, it was a custom 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:06.300 that someone who did the reading would give a 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:09.680 few brief words of encouragement or enlightenment. 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:16.219 And so, after Jesus finished the reading, he 00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:20.599 sat down and handed the book back and took his 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.759 place. And all eyes were upon him, St. Luke says, 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:30.219 expecting him to say something. And then he clearly 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:35.259 inaugurates his public ministry when he says 00:03:35.259 --> 00:03:39.000 the spirit of quotes from Isaiah, that reading 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.280 he had, the spirit of the Lord is upon me to 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:48.639 preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:53.569 to captives. recovery of sight to the blind, 00:03:53.789 --> 00:03:59.050 to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:03.270 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. 00:04:04.270 --> 00:04:07.669 This, the acceptable year of the Lord, is the 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:15.789 time to act, for God to act. This is the inauguration, 00:04:15.789 --> 00:04:21.500 so to speak, of the Messianic era. All eyes were 00:04:21.500 --> 00:04:28.339 fixed on Jesus, and he said, Today, this scripture 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:34.980 has been fulfilled in your hearing. To the amazement 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:40.120 of people that Jesus would claim that these words 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:46.540 of Isaiah are directed to him, obviously as the 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:51.920 Messiah. People were amazed at when Jesus performed 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.480 these miracles and at his teachings and knowledge. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.879 And they frequently would say something to the 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.319 effect, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:09.620 the carpenter's son? And I'm frequently, I enjoy 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:15.370 reading the bumper stickers. And my favorite, 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:18.470 they have interesting messages. Sometimes you 00:05:18.470 --> 00:05:20.810 could be dangerous putting a bumper sticker on 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:27.129 your car. Someone might not enjoy what you're 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:30.490 advertising. But this advertisement is fantastic. 00:05:31.129 --> 00:05:37.310 The one that I saw. My boss is a Jewish carpenter. 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:43.980 What a magnificent message. and an inspiration 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:48.560 to anyone who reads that. My boss is a Jewish 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:59.019 carpenter. Today's gospel, again, is at the beginning 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:01.920 of Jesus' ministry, and we have the miraculous 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.720 catch of fish. Labored all night, didn't catch 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.870 a thing. Anyone who's... Gone fishing. This was 00:06:11.870 --> 00:06:15.529 not a sport for Peter, James, and John. This 00:06:15.529 --> 00:06:18.290 was how they made their living. But anyone who 00:06:18.290 --> 00:06:23.629 has gone fishing is amazed, I think, at the fickleness 00:06:23.629 --> 00:06:27.170 of the fish. Sometimes they bite, sometimes they 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:31.189 don't. For us, you know, it's just fun to catch 00:06:31.189 --> 00:06:35.870 fish. But that was their livelihood. And what 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:40.959 was the reaction? Two things I want us to take 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:45.560 from this gospel. What was Peter's reaction, 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:52.220 Simon Peter? He fell at Jesus' feet and he said, 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:58.279 Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man. 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:03.720 Those should be our words, not literally that 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:08.500 he depart from us, but Peter's recognition. of 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:13.439 his own sinfulness, and how distant is a spiritual 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:19.439 space between God and we poor and imperfect followers 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:24.500 of his. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:30.839 O Lord. We must acknowledge our sinfulness. We 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:34.639 do this daily in our morning and evening prayers, 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:41.870 to receive Holy Communion. We declare our sinfulness 00:07:41.870 --> 00:07:47.189 and our unworthiness. But the irony is, we don't 00:07:47.189 --> 00:07:51.410 say, depart from me, O Lord. We say, let me come 00:07:51.410 --> 00:07:56.029 to you and receive you in Holy Communion, O Lord. 00:07:56.910 --> 00:08:02.689 So that's the first idea. Recognizing our own 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:08.579 sinfulness and unworthiness. Every day, how much 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:14.160 we need God's grace and God's help. The second 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.519 one is, near the end of the reading, it tells 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:23.860 us that Jesus' disciples, his new disciples, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:31.959 left everything and followed him. It was an unreserved 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:36.909 declaration of faithfulness. and loyalty to Jesus. 00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:41.590 That should be our inspiration. No matter what 00:08:41.590 --> 00:08:47.049 we do in life, and when I give talks to young 00:08:47.049 --> 00:08:50.789 people, especially if they're thinking, what 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:55.690 should I do in life? What should I be? And no 00:08:55.690 --> 00:08:59.470 matter what you choose, you will be successful. 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:05.139 If you are successful, And the one important 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:09.480 thing, the one thing needful, was just to be 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:14.799 a follower of Jesus Christ. Because if you do 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:20.519 not obey God, keep his commandments, do what 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:25.019 he knows we want him to do, you're a failure, 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:29.220 no matter how much success or how much money 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:33.919 you might make. The one thing needful. to follow 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:39.399 Jesus and to do his will so that we can say with 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:44.600 that bumper sticker, my boss is a Jewish carpenter. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:45.620 Amen.