In St. Luke's Gospel at today's Mass, we hear the story of the beginning of the association between Our Blessed Saviour and St. Peter. As was very often the case, the crowds were pressing against Our Blessed Lord so much and He could not make Himself heard. We hear the following: ". . . . He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships . . . : " (St. Luke 5:1) And as a result, Our Lord got into St. Peter's boat so that He could preach to the multitude that had gathered to hear Him speak by Lake Gennesaret. Now the rest of this passage obviously focuses mainly on Our Lord directing St. Peter to throw the nets out and ended up hauling in a miraculous load of fish when he could catch nothing by himself. But the one thing that really caught my attention in reading and rereading this Gospel passage was the fact that there were two ships, St. Luke tells us. But then if there were two ships, why did Our Lord choose the one that St. Peter owned and not the other ship? The fact of the matter is that God chooses each one of us for specific tasks because each one of us has particular skills and talents. One person might be good at teaching while someone else is good at preaching. Or it might be the case that someone is good at fixing things while another person is skilled in music. The bottom line is that each one of us might not be talented in one area but very skilled in something totally different. Again, I can not help but focus on the fact that there were two ships in today's Gospel passage and Our Lord picked one but not the other. Maybe I am making too big of a deal out of this fact, but in my mind, it does point out that Our Lord does pick us. He chooses us. He singles us out and calls each one of us. The key, though, is that we need to respond accordingly. We have to say "yes" when we are called. We may not understand why Our Lord has chosen us. Look at today's passage, St. Peter did not understand Our Lord's instruction to cast the net out when he had been working so hard all night and caught nothing. And yet he did it anyway. Our Lady most certainly did not understand when she was told that she would be pregnant with child and yet her response was "Let it be done to me according to your word!" She said yes despite the fact that she did not understand . . . . St. Peter said yes despite the fact he could not understand how it would be possible. This is the definition of faith. God chooses us. We respond. And sometimes we may not even understand how it will take place . . . . or why it will take place . . . . or why in the world that God would choose me . . . but we respond to God's call and move forward. This is faith!
Two opportunities to hear Mass on Sunday:
St. Margaret Anglican Church meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM. St. Margaret worships in the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.
The Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit meets every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM at the beautiful First Presbyterian Church in Greenfield, Indiana, which is located at 116 W. South Street, located at the corner of Pennsylvania and South streets near downtown Greenfield.
Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Join us as we meditate on God speaking to us. Come receive Our Lord's Precious Body and Blood at Communion time. And then join us after Mass at our coffee hour where we have many delicious goodies and fellowship.
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