2 Cor 9:6-11
Luke 5:1-11
Do you remember the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman? We read in John’s Gospel that Jesus came and sat with her at a well. He told her things about her life, things He wouldn’t know, and that showed her who He was. She went and brought the townspeople to Him, telling them, “He told me everything I’ve ever done”. And He gained followers because of her.
Tradition tells us that her name was Photini. After the incident at the well, she didn’t keep silent about Jesus. She went to Carthage - evangelizing throughout her life. Eventually, she was martyred under the Emperor Nero.
Jesus made St Photini a fisher of men.
The call that Jesus makes in our Gospel today is not just a call to the Apostles.
In his first epistle, Peter writes, “But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”.
Yes, we are all priests, but it is not the same priesthood as the ordained priesthood, the priest who stands at the holy table. Father represents Christ in a special way, standing in for Christ in his role as High Priest in the Holy of Holies, once again offering the same sacrifice which was first made visible at Calvary.
Instead, we are like the Levitical priests in the old Temple who remained in the Holy Place offering the sacrifices. But we don’t offer the Levitical sacrifices, we offer the Sacrifice of Praise.
The ordained priesthood ministers to the body of Christ, us.
But we of the Royal Priesthood (of which the ordained priesthood is a part, of course) minister to the world, to the people outside this wall.
And part of the privilege of that ministry is being fishers of men
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “He gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
These ministries are not confined to the ordained ministry. Not all Old Testament Prophets were priests. And Acts records that Philip, one of the original seven deacons, had four daughters with the Gift of Prophecy.
These ministries are not even necessarily connected to Catholics! The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, "The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter." Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church."
Yes, those outside the Catholic Church may not always get their theology right, but they are in an imperfect communion with the Church, and God can certainly use them. Just look at Billy Graham. So you most certainly can have a ministry. And one of those ministries is Evangelist. And what is an Evangelist? It’s a fisher of men!!
How do you exercise your priestly ministry? How do you become a fisher of men?
The first thing is, you need to train yourself, just like a fisherman has to practice being a fisherman. Pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit - Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.
Nurturing the Fruit of the Spirit will help change you into the person Christ would have you be. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.
These, and much more, are found on pages 12 and 13 of your “Hear Me, O Lord” prayer book
Perhaps the thing that will speak most loudly to people is the practice of the Works of Mercy, Spiritual and Capital.
All my life, my father was not a believer. The last 2 years of his life were spent between the hospital and a nursing home. I would visit him 3 or 4 nights a week, but I knew that I couldn’t talk about the Lord without him putting up walls.
Finally, about 9 months before his passing, he told me that he prayed that God would let him die. I asked him if he prayed to Jesus, and if he believed that he was the son of God. He said yes. That’s all I needed to hear. I asked him if he remembered the Our Father. He did. And then I told him that he could always pray the Jesus Prayer. Before I left that night, he asked me to remind him of how it went.
We never spoke of it again, but at his wake, a number of people told me that he’d been seen going to Mass at the nursing home. A friend later told me that I’d loved him into the kingdom.
Jesus made me a fisher of men for my dad.
Paul’s Epistles frequently make mention of his companions, people like Prisca and Aquila. Working with him, they were fishers of men.
In the middle of the second century, a Greek man born in what is now Nablus, was the earliest Christian Philosopher. Jesus made him a fisher of men. His name was Justin Martyr.
Pope Francis addressed his first Encyclical not only to the clergy, but to the entire church, including the Lay Faithful. Its title is “Evangelii Gaudium”, the Joy of the Gospel. And its subject is the proclamation of the Gospel.
We are all called to be Fishers of Men. Let us pray that our Lord helps us fulfill that calling.
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