5th Sunday Year C - Homily 5

Homily 5 - 2022

Today’s Gospel story is one familiar to us all. But why does Luke tell it the way he does? Indeed, why does he tell it at all? And, perhaps more importantly, might it have any relevance to us?

Luke wrote his Gospel for second and third generation Christian believers — for people not all that different from us. Luke wanted them, apparently, to take Jesus’ comment to Peter and his fishermen partners as addressed also to them: “Do not be afraid; from now on it is men [people like yourselves] you will catch.”

Did Luke believe that Jesus considered mission to be part of the one package-deal of being disciples?

For example, what will our already-smallish faith-community here be like when Covid passes? Will that depend on us? or have nothing to do with us? Does it cause us some concern? Is there anything we can do that might influence the outcomes?

Years ago, during the fifties, sixties and even into the seventies, when I and my contemporary priest friends were still fresh-faced, enthusiastic, idealistic young men, we spent much of our time and energy working with the Catholic youth of our parishes. We tried to impress on them that each of them had a unique dignity, simply as young workers. Each of them had a vocation from Christ: Jesus was calling them, each of them personally, to work with him in shaping their world according to the mind and heart of God. We impressed on them that, when Christ called anyone, usually he would trustfully send them out to engage with their fellow young workers to change their world for the better. Just notice the Gospels, and check it out for yourselves. How often does Jesus follow up his invitations to “come” with the challenge, then, to “go”? [as in today’s passage.]

We encouraged them to reflect on the Gospels regularly and to pray them — and through them to get into personal contact with Jesus. We taught them that, whenever Jesus’ communicates with us, his language is largely silence — usually he accesses our attention through our hearts, through many of the feelings, like fears or hopes, the interests and attractions, or “bright ideas”, that regularly tumble around inside us. With time, most of them learnt to recognise his “voice” . By sharing their experiences together, they helped each other to become familiar with him. So many of them went on later to become wonderfully generous, responsible adults.

Unfortunately, the general culture in which we were all immersed changed radically during the late sixties and early seventies; and we failed, in fact we did not know how, to adapt appropriately. Are we still uncertain, still learning?

I think that the experience of years ago is not beyond any of us today. We all have a unique dignity, no matter who we are. Jesus looks to us still, and trusts us. The world we live in is still in continual need of change and conversion. Each of us can draw closer to him; we can draw inspiration and nourishment from his vision and his spirit. All of us, young or old, can play our tailored-to-fit, different, but complementary, parts in directing our future Godwards.