Divine or routine, God keeps asking us to try

A retreat master was giving a homily to a group of young seminarians. In that group of future diocesan priests, one was a late vocation. He had entered the seminary at the age of 40 and brought with him a vast amount of life and work experience that the younger men lacked. The retreat master began to preach by quoting the prophet Isaiah. His chosen passage began, “Although I thought I had toiled in vain, for nothing and for naught spent my strength,” but it ended with the line, “Yet my recompense is with my God” (Is 49:4). The older seminarian felt some relief when he heard the prophet’s words. Responding to a vocation later in life had given this man knowledge of life’s trials and many pitfalls. He wondered if this newest adventure to follow a vocational call late in life had been misguided? Another pitfall perhaps? Hearing the words from Isaiah brought genuine relief that his present vocation to serve God was not in vain.

This Sunday’s readings recount two separate vocational calls to serve God. The similarities and differences between these two accounts provide an opportunity to consider our own call for mission. Paul also reminds the community at Corinth in this Sunday’s second reading to remember the original proclamation preached to them. “Hold fast to the word I preached to you,” says Paul, “unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor 15:2). Is a life of mission worth the sacrifice? Is it truly wise to listen to the Spirit’s prompting for the direction of one’s life? Both Isaiah and the early disciples from this Sunday’s readings navigate these questions.

Isaiah’s call takes place in an other-worldly setting surrounded in the temple by seraphim. Isaiah describes these beings, whose name means “burning ones,” twice. Here they are God’s mysterious throne-attendants who have some connection to the fire on the altar of the Temple. Elsewhere, Isaiah describes them as fiery flying serpents (Is 14:29; 30:6). In both cases they symbolize God’s awesome presence.  In this Sunday’s reading they are described with a mixture of human qualities: “They had six wings, with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered” (Is 6:2). As messengers, they brought the full power of God to Isaiah’s vision. Isaiah responded in a way that was perfectly natural for someone overwhelmed, “Woe is me, I am doomed!” (Is 6:5). After a symbolic purging of sin, Isaiah regained his composure and was ready to receive God’s mission as a prophet to the people. A daunting task awaited him, but when God’s power was revealed in full, Isaiah was eager to respond: “Send me!” (Is 6:8).

In contrast, Sunday’s Gospel scene could not be more mundane. Simon, with his small crew that included James and John, were out fishing on the Sea of Galilee. They took a break to listen to Jesus teach. Their routine fishing seemed to be going poorly, too, as the text describes it: “Master, we worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets” (Lk 5:5). You can hear the sense of toiling in vain in what Peter does not say, “Master we worked hard all night (and what good has it brought us?).” Biblical scholars note that Luke recounts Peter’s miraculous catch of fish at the beginning of his time with Jesus. The Gospel of John, by contrast, speaks of it after the resurrection (Jn 21:3-11). In both cases, the out-of-ordinary catch of fish helps Peter recognize Christ’s presence and his own divine call to action for the sake of the Gospel.

If this is the case, then what we have in this Sunday’s Gospel might be a scene meant to encourage early Christians who might felt discouraged by the lack of positive results to their missionary activity. Peter told Jesus to turn away from him, as Isaiah did to the seraphim, but he was reassured. “Do not be afraid,” said the Master to his new disciple, “from now on you will be catching men” (Lk 5:10). These words were not meant for Peter alone. The text gives clues that this was a collective experience and that James and John were a part of it: “They left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11). 

By implication, Jesus’ words and actions were meant to send forth every disciple, including those in our own day. May we take to heart what Jesus says to us this Sunday through the Gospel, that we might “put out into deep water” and lower our nets for a catch. It might be by a dramatic call like Isaiah’s, or a mundane setting like Peter’s, but we are encouraged today to look past our toil and awaken ourselves to God’s call that moves us to action. Although Paul warns that we might have “believed in vain,” with Peter may we embrace our call with hope.