5th Sunday in Ordinary Time C. Feb. 9, 2025
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8; 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11; Luke 5:1-11
Theme: “Put Out Into a Deep Water and
Lower your Nets for a Catch.”
A. A
Brief Exegetical Analysis of Luke 5:1-11
1. Historical
and Literary Contexts
The
Gospel text under study is the story of the Miraculous Fishing and the Call of
Simon, the fisherman. Before our Gospel passage, Luke already told the stories
of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, such as Jesus’s rejection by
his hometown people at Nazareth (4:16-30), the cure of a demoniac in Capernaum,
a town in Galilee (4:31-37), and the healing of many other sick, including
Simon’s mother-in-law (4:38-44). Because all these incidents have already been
narrated, especially the cure of Simon’s mother-in-law, Luke made it easier for
his readers to understand why, in our text, Simon and his partners accepted to
follow Jesus. So, by placing our story, which he took from Marcan's source (Mk
1:16-20), after the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, Luke used the
example of Simon’s acceptance of becoming Jesus’ disciple to counter Jesus’
rejection by his hometown people in Nazareth. The story of the Cleansing of a
Leper (5:12-16) immediately follows our text.
2. Form,
Structure, and Movement
Our
Gospel is a narrative account of Simon’s discipleship call. Vv. 1-3 can be considered
an introduction. Here, Jesus teaches the crowd using Simon’s boat. The body of
the text (vv. 4-10) covers Simon’s one-on-one experience with Jesus. V. 11 concludes
our passage. Simon and his partners decide to leave everything and follow Jesus.
3. Detailed
Analysis
5:1-3.
The scene occurs in the Lake of Gennesaret. This lake is also known as the Sea
of Galilee. The crowd is hungry for the Word of God, so they are pressing in on
Jesus toward the water, preventing him from preaching to them better. To solve
the problem, Jesus uses the boat and creates a distance between him and them. This
boat belongs to Simon.
5:4-10.
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (v. 4). What Jesus
asks Simon to do in this verse seems foolish and dangerous for several reasons.
First, Simon is an expert in fishing, whereas Jesus is just a carpenter’s son.
So, it does not make sense that a carpenter advises a knowledgeable fisherman
on any fishing techniques. Second, the Sea of Galilee is eight miles wide and
up to one hundred and fifty feet deep; moreover, the sea squalls can easily
capsize the boats during the day. Third, the fish swim as deep as possible
during the day to avoid the bright sunlight. The best time for fishing in the
Sea of Galilee is night, not day. In conclusion, Jesus’ demand to Simon to put
out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch cannot make sense to any
professional fisherman. So, Jesus asks Simon to execute something potentially
dangerous and visibly foolish. Master: Simon addresses Jesus as a “Master.” In
v. 8, he will relate to him as “Lord.” Simon, an expert in fishing, listens to
instructions about his profession from Jesus, the carpenter. When Simon Peter…
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” (V. 8). For the first and only
time, in this episode, Luke uses the name “Simon Peter.” There are indications
in this v. 8 that attest to the post-resurrectional context of this story, as
is the case in John’s version of this similar story (see Jn 21:1-11.) First,
Simon’s recognition of himself as a sinner here evidences that he is aware of
when he has denied knowing Jesus (see Lk 22:54-62.) Second, he addresses Jesus
as “Lord,” which is a post-resurrectional title used for Jesus (see Lk 24:34;
Acts 2:36). Therefore, the fact that Simon recognizes himself as a sinner and
addresses Jesus as “Lord,” indicates that the post-resurrectional context of
this story is the original one. Catching men: This expression means Simon will
become Jesus’ disciple and have a mission of calling people to conversion.
This
scene features a conversation between Jesus and Simon. Though many fishermen
are in the lake, Jesus only speaks to Simon, and Simon is the only one who
replies. Luke stresses Simon here to prepare his audience for the leadership
role that Simon (later Peter) will play in the rest of his book.
V.
11. They left everything and followed him. Simon and his partners' discipleship
is a total dedication and a complete detachment from material possessions.
4. Synthesis
Despite
all his frustrations because they spent the whole night without catching, Simon
let Jesus use his boat to teach the crowd the Word of God. Then, he had a
one-on-one experience with Jesus, leading to Simon and his companions’ decision
to become Jesus’ disciples with total dedication and a complete detachment from
material possessions.
B. Pastoral
Implication
1. Liturgical
Context
The
scripture readings of this Sunday tell us the calling stories of three giants of
our faith: Isaiah in the first reading, Paul in the second, and Simon Peter in
the Gospel. They felt unworthy as they recognized their sins and weaknesses. Through
these readings, our Holy Mother Church reminds us that today, God continues to
call each of us to discipleship and assign us his mission regardless of our
weaknesses. He gives us his grace when we recognize our sins and repent.
2. What
the Church Teach us Today
In
the introductory part of our Gospel (vv. 1-3), our Holy Mother Church calls us
to imitate the crowd, Jesus, and Simon. First, this crowd presses in on Jesus,
showing their hunger for the Word of God. We are called to feel hungry for reading,
listening to, studying, and praying with the Scripture. Second, seeing the
crowd’s hunger for God’s Word, Jesus finds a way to teach them better. Like
Jesus, we are called to teach and share the Word of God with our brothers and
sisters, especially in our families. Third, we should also imitate Simon. This
meeting between Simon and Jesus occurs when Simon is hugely disappointed, sad,
and discouraged because he worked all night without catching fish. Despite his
bad feelings, Simon allows Jesus to use his boat and teach the crowd. The boat
here can represent oneself, our families, and our times. Jesus meets us in our daily
worries and wants to use us, our families, and our times to evangelize the people
around us. We should not let our daily burdens prevent us from allowing Jesus
to use us, our families, and our times to evangelize our brothers and sisters.
The
body of the Gospel story is Simon’s one-on-one experience with Jesus (vv. 4-10).
Like a coach, Jesus instructs Simon for a fish catch. Jesus
instructs each of us every day. He asks us to put our “boats” (our lives and families)
into deep water (relationship with God, our Church, families, and everywhere we
live) and lower our nets for a catch (ministering to the people and calling them
to come to Jesus). Jesus calls us to put ourselves and our families into a deep
relationship with God without fearing all the potential dangers our world presents
us. He also calls us to trust him even though we do not understand fully the
mystery of our vocation. Note that the more we are in a deep relationship with
Jesus, the more we recognize how sinner and weak we are and how much more we
need God’s mercy. The three giants of our faith, Simon, Isaiah, and Paul,
experienced this in today’s Scripture readings. Once they encountered God, they
recognized their sins and weaknesses, confessed them, and obtained God’s mercy
and graces. Their sins and weaknesses did not stop God from calling them and
assigning them his missions. So, we should not feel unworthy to serve God
because whenever we recognize and confess our sins sincerely, Jesus forgives us,
gives us more graces, and renews our baptismal mission of ministering to his
people.
Luke
ends our story by presenting Simon and his companions as the models of the
perfect disciples. They leave everything and follow Jesus (v. 11). This is total
dedication and a complete detachment from material possessions. Let us dedicate
ourselves to serving God’s people in our Church, families, and wherever we live.
May
our encounter with our Lord during this Mass give us the confidence so that we always
allow him to use our “boats” and obey his instructions of “putting out
ourselves and families into deep relationship with him and “lowering our nets”
by ministering to his people without fear. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor at Holy Family Church in Jackson, MS &
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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