Luke 5,1-11 [The "Johannine hours" are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of prayer.] The story of the miraculous catch of fish shows us the different stages of an encounter with Christ. Everything begins as if by chance. Jesus sees a fishing boat that will allow him to go out on the lake so that the people on the shore can hear him better. Peter, the boat's owner, allows his work to be disturbed by Jesus. But anyone else would have been capable of doing the same thing. Peter only does what politeness and kindness require. Then Jesus stops talking to the crowd and speaks personally to Peter. By telling him to fish in the daytime, he challenges him. If he agrees to Jesus' request, Peter will be running a risk and even doing something contrary to common sense, because fishermen do their work at night. He does not hide his first reaction of hesitation, but then he agrees and trusts Christ's words without understanding them fully. And he still does not understand when he sees the nets fill to overflowing. God's gift is beyond measure. This overflowing gift enables him to sense the mystery of Christ. He no longer calls him "Master," as in v.5, but rather "Lord" (v.8). He realizes that with Christ, it is all or nothing. From the master he learned what it was good to do, but standing before his Lord, he is overcome. He does not think that he is up to the mark: what could he give in return to the one who has given everything? But Jesus tells him, "Don't be afraid" (v.10). Peter will henceforth work with Christ in gathering together in a communion human beings who are scattered. If Jesus expresses this in the language of fishermen: "you will be catching people" (v.10), that is perhaps because he wants to reassure him about his former work: his experience as a fisherman will not be lost in this new life, when he leaves everything behind to follow Christ. What services can we perform for Christ today? In what way does Christ ask me to trust in him even when I cannot understand? Am I able to tell Christ that he is the whole of my life? "Johannine Hours" - 11/95 - ©71250 Taizé-Community, France. taize@cpe.ipl.fr ----------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/taize/johannine: jh9511.txt .