Has anyone ever come to you and asked for a simple favor? I bet all of us have ever received simple requests. For instance, someone asking help to be dropped at a bus stop, someone asking for a ride to the grocery store, or someone asking to borrow your ladder or lawn mower. People never forget those simple acts of kindness or willingness by someone to help them.
Helping the Lord
Today we hear that Jesus was preaching by Lake Gennesaret also known as the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberius. A big crowd had gathered around him and was “pressing in” on Jesus. He saw two empty boats alongside the lake and the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. He sort of "borrowed" the boat of Simon Peter. He asked Simon to put the boat out a short distance from the shore so that he could use it as a platform to preach to the crowd that had gathered. There were two boats but he chose the one of Simon Peter who readily accepted and availed his boat. That simple act of kindness or willingness by Simon to help the Lord set in motion Simon’s vocation as a disciple of Christ and a leader of all Jesus’ followers.
The Little Things
The first thing we learn today is that the Lord’s calling of us sometimes starts in small and ordinary requests or invitations. Letting Jesus use our “boat” or our life in simple and ordinary ways can grow into a lifelong calling way beyond our imagination! There are people who started off small by just taking Holy Communion to the sick and the homebound, then they discovered a long life calling of ministry to the sick. There are people who started off small by simply availing their voice to be lectors in Church, then they fell in love with scripture and discovered they could animate group scripture sharing.
Look out for the small requests or invitations extended to us by the Lord! The image of the “boat” is symbolic of our life, our time, our talents. It usually starts with small requests before He calls us to something bigger or a deeper commitment. Today we can ask ourselves: How open are we, to taking on “small tasks” that the Lord invites us to? How open are we to being interrupted or inconvenienced by God? Are we too busy, unwilling, or too tired to avail ourselves to God? Our availability to God to do small things gives God a chance to work with us on bigger plans or missions.
Blessings in Our Own Lives
Lastly, when Simon Peter availed his boat to the Lord, the Lord blessed his life immensely. He got a great catch of fish! The gospel said that the fishermen who had spent the whole night fishing and had caught nothing “Their nets were tearing…they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come help them…they filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking.” The blessing they had was beyond Simon’s imagination! When we allow the Lord to use what we have, whatever small gifts, talents, time, treasure we have – we position ourselves for blessings, miracles, or even a bigger mission! Look out for answering “small requests” extended to us by the Lord. They can be the beginnings of large blessings in our lives!
May the Lord this day move our hearts to be open to the promptings of the Spirit so as to say “yes” when the Lord makes “small requests” of us. May His grace remind us always of how purposeful the Lord is when He approaches each one of us or our families to do something for Him.
- Today’s Readings
Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
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