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Illustration: The miraculous Draught of Fishes by Raphael (1483–1520)
HOLY MASS HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS “
Gelora Karno” Stadium (Jakarta, Indonesia) Thursday, 5 September 2024
Gospel Reading (Luke 5:1-11)
While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Homily by Pope Francis
The encounter with Jesus calls us to live two fundamental attitudes, that allow us to become his disciples.
The first attitude: To listen to the Word; the second: To live the Word.
First of all, listening, because everything comes from listening, from opening ourselves to Him, accepting the precious gift of his friendship.
But then it is important to live the Word received, so as not to be vain listeners who deceive themselves (cf. Jas 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves); so as not to run the risk of listening only with our ears without the seed of the Word penetrating the hearts and changing our way of thinking, feeling, acting, and this is not good.
The Word that is given to us and to which we listen asks us to become life, to transform life, to become incarnate in our lives.
We can reflect on these two essential attitudes: listening to the Word and living the Word, in the Gospel that has just been proclaimed.
First of all: To Listen to the Word.
The Evangelist tells us that many people flocked to Jesus and “the crowd gatjhered around him to hear the word of God” (Lk 5:1). They seek Him, they hunger and thirst for the Word of the Lord and hear it resound in the words of Jesus. Therefore, this scene, which is repeated so many times in the Gospel, tells us that the human heart is always in search of a truth capable of feeding and satisfying his desire for happiness; that we cannot be satisfied with human words alone, with the criteria of this world, with earthly judgments;
We always need a light that comes from above to illuminate our steps, a living water that can quench the thirst of the deserts of the soul, a consolation that does not disappoint because it comes from heaven and not from the ephemeral things of this world.
In the midst of the numbness and vanity of human words, brothers and sisters, there is a need for the Word of God, the only one that is the compass for our journey, the only one that can lead us back, amidst so many wounds and confusion, to the authentic meaning of life.
Brothers and sisters, let us not forget this: the first task of the disciple – we are all disciples! – is not to put on the habit of an outwardly perfect religiosity, to do extraordinary things or to engage in grandiose undertakings.
On the contrary, the first task, the first step, is to know how to listen to the only word that saves, that of Jesus, as we see in the Gospel episode when the Master gets into Peter’s boat in order to move a little away from the shore so that he can better preach to the people (cf. Lk 5:3).
Our life of faith begins when we humbly welcome Jesus into the boat of our existence, make room for him, listen to his word and allow ourselves to be challenged, shaken and changed by it.
Secondly: To live the Word.
At the same time, brothers and sisters, the Word of the Lord asks us to become concretely incarnate in us: we are therefore called to live the Word.
If we only repeat the word without living it, we become like parrots: yes, I say it, but it is not understood, it is not lived.
In fact, when Jesus had finished preaching to the crowds from the boat, he turned to Peter and asked him to take a risk by putting his faith in this Word: “Go out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (v. 4).
The Word of the Lord cannot remain a beautiful abstract idea or arouse only the emotion of a moment; it asks us to change our gaze, to allow our hearts to be transformed into the image of Christ’s; the Word calls us to courageously cast the nets of the Gospel in the midst of the sea of the world, “taking the risk”, yes, running the risk of living the love that he taught us and lived first.
The Lord, with the burning power of his Word, asks us too, brothers and sisters, to put out into the deep, to detach ourselves from the stagnant shores of bad habits, fears and mediocrity, in order to dare a new life.
Mediocrity pleases the devil! Because he enters us and ruins us.
Of course, there are always obstacles and excuses for saying no; but let us look again at Peter’s attitude:
– he was coming from a difficult night, where he had caught nothing,
– he was angry, he was tired, he was disappointed;
And yet, instead of remaining paralyzed in that emptiness and blocked by his own failure, he says: “Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the nets“ (v. 5). At your word I will let down the nets.
And then the incredible happens, the miracle of a boat filled with fish almost to the point of sinking (cf. v. 7).
Brothers and sisters, in the face of the many tasks of our daily life; in the face of the call that we all feel to build a more just society, to continue on the path of peace and dialogue – the path that has been traced here in Indonesia for some time – we can sometimes feel inadequate, feel the weight of so many commitments that do not always bear the hoped-for fruits, or of our mistakes that seem to stop the journey.
But with the same humility and faith as Peter, we too are asked not to remain prisoners of our failures. This is a very bad thing, because failures take hold of us and we can become prisoners of failures.
No, please: let us not remain prisoners of our failures; instead of staring at our empty nets, let us look to Jesus and trust in Him.
Don’t look at your empty nets, look at Jesus, look at Jesus!
He will make you walk, He will make you go well, trust Jesus!
We can always risk putting out into the deep and casting our nets again,
even when we have gone through the night of failure,
the time of disappointment in which we have caught nothing.
Now I will have a little moment of silence and each of you think about your failures. [pause] . . . . And looking at these failures, we take risks, we move forward with the courage of the Word of God.
St Teresa of Calcutta, whose memory we celebrate today and who tirelessly cared for the poorest and became a promoter of peace and dialogue, said:
“When we have nothing to give, let us give them that nothing.
And remember: even if you don’t reap anything, never get tired of sowing.”
Brother and sister, never tire of sowing, because this is life.
This, brothers and sisters, is what I want to say to you, to this nation, to this wonderful and diverse archipelago: do not tire of going out into the deep, do not tire of casting your nets, do not tire of dreaming, do not tire of dreaming and rebuilding a civilization of peace!
Always dare to dream of fraternity, which is a true treasure among you.
On the Word of the Lord, I encourage you to sow love, to walk confidently along the path of dialogue, to practise again your goodness and kindness with the typical smile that distinguishes you.
Have you been told that you are a smiling people?
Please don’t lose your smile and keep on smiling!
And be builders of peace. Be builders of hope!
This is the wish recently expressed by the Bishops of the country, and it is the wish that I too would like to address to all the people of Indonesia: walk together for the good of society and of the Church! Be builders of hope. Listen carefully: be builders of hope!
That hope of the Gospel which does not disappoint (Rom 5:5 – hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.), The hope of the Gospel never disappoints, and opens us to endless joy.
