Homily for Sunday, February 4, 2007

(Luke 5)

The Super Bowl may be sold out. But scores of millions will watch it on television. They will keep one eye on the play of the quarterbacks. Which one can control the game? They will have the other on the coaches. How will the cool Lovie Smith of the Bears and the cooler Tony Dungy of the Colts maneuver their players? With similar interest the crowds pay attention to Jesus in the gospel we just read.

The people crowd around Jesus to hear the word of God. Sometimes we play down the importance of words. As children, we chirped, “Sticks and stone can break bones but words can never hurt me.” Yet we have witnessed the power of words. The eloquent words of Lincoln, “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” have shaped our love of country. We know that a few harsh words spoken with a mixture of contempt and ill-timing can provoke one man to kill another. What of God’s word then? It effectively consoles and advises us when we are in need. How can the people help but draw close to Jesus?

We should note that the “word of God” encompasses all the ways in which God reveals Himself to humans. Nature itself is a word of God since it was created by God to reveal His glory. The Bible or Scripture first voiced but eventually written comprises what most people think of as the word of God. Jesus himself is often identified as the “Word of God” since in him God reveals His full message for the entire world. Jesus’ spoken words do not differ from the one word but elaborate on it so that we might understand. We might think of the word of God as a spring of water. Every drop of water – every word -- does not differ from the water of the spring but incorporates it.

Jesus tells Peter, “Put out into deep water.” He is not only advising where to fish but also indicating the profundity of God’s word. Sometimes we think of the word of God as a general guide in life. It seems fair to “do unto others what you would have them do to you.” But we reserve the really large questions of existence for other sources of knowledge. With such a shallow perspective we will miss the depth of wisdom which the word of God offers. For example, a raging question today is intelligent design in evolution. The word of God shows how creation took place in stages culminating with the human species. This development indicates a priority of dignity to humans which should not be denied. Yet evolutionists who treat the human race as an accident of nature without any real priority seem to be doing just that. It may indeed be difficult to say whether God left traces of His design in fossil remains. But Scripture does tell us that the Creator did guide the development of creation.

Taking to heart the word of God by first meditating and then acting on it produces great rewards. Our lives grow not just more exemplary but happier. More importantly they become heaven-bound. The gospel indicates these benefits by the superabundant haul of fish. Peter and his partners are literally overwhelmed by the number. We cannot say that the word of God provides explicit solutions to all our problems. But it does give both direction and inspiration for making good decisions. More and more, reflection on the word of God is taking place in Catholic homes. Parishioners are coming together to discuss how Sunday Mass readings apply to their lives. In one parish such groups seem to keep the people united as time begins to pull them apart.

Seeing the immensity of the catch, Peter realizes that God’s power is at play here, not human know-how. He instinctively asks Christ to leave because he knows that he is not worthy to be in his presence. Seldom are we so honest. We generally see ourselves worthy of any opportunity. But we aren’t and we need to admit it. Our unworthiness is something like signing up for a course in physical chemistry, going to the first class where the lecturer uses terms that we never heard, much less understand, and knowing we don’t belong there. As the word of God is consoling, it also judges. It will provoke necessary guilt by pointing out where we go wrong.

But Christ will give us the means to correct our ways. He tells Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Since he is God, he can turn Peter’s situation around. Where Peter felt like he would die of shame, Jesus gives him a whole new life. John Paul II often quoted these words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid” to young people. “Don’t be afraid,” he would say, “to counter the trend by living chastely.” He might say to us today, “Don’t be afraid to live by the word of God.”

A couple of years ago an Alabama judge took the word of God on tour. Judge Roy Moore hauled a 5,280 pound monument with the Ten Commandments inscribed on it throughout the country. He wanted his case against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision removing the monument from his courthouse to enter people’s consciousness. The marble was not very big, but so sturdy that keeping an eye on the crane that moved it created a sense of overabundance. Of course, the word of God does not have to be encased in marble to have impact. Read, meditated and acted upon from a little Bible, it can give us a whole new life. That’s our hope now. In some way the word of God will give us new life.