Luke 5:1-11

22nd Week in Ordinary Time Year 2
1 Corinthians 3:18-23
Luke 5:1-11

A. Text/Context

• If we analyze the story, when Jesus told Peter to lay down the net in deep water he answered Master we did it all night but we caught nothing but I will follow you
• In logic, it is known as the principle of the benefit of a doubt. Even if his master could be wrong because Peter knows there is no fish he will still obey his master so as not to offend him perhaps
• After all, Peter would not obey Jesus if they have no teamwork
• Peter lowered the net and they caught a great number of fish that made them all astonished. And Peter said: Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man
• From Master, there is a transition to Lord because Jesus was such a powerful boss
• And Jesus said his words towards the end: From now on you will be catching men
• A commissioning. After Peter, and the rest of the disciples has witnessed the awesome power of Jesus, they are now ready to follow and they left everything behind
• Jesus has successfully recruited a new and a blooming leadership for his future church

B. Human Situation

• The gospel today is about leadership. Leaders are really born and leaders are few, followers are many. But before they are recognized as leaders, the traits are manifested in a natural way that this person will be a good leader
• Simon Peter for example has already become the spokesman of the group, and that’s a sign of future leadership
• But there is also a limitation Peter’s leadership is only good for the Church in Jerusalem
• Outside of Jerusalem, he cannot do it anymore and another charismatic leader by the name of St. Paul now became the great apostle of the Gentiles
• A fact to tell that we cannot be experts in all areas of the religious apostolates
• And these two great apostles now face each other during the 1st Council of Jerusalem where bitter disputes were settled
• And funny as you think, the issues that were of so much importance in those days is about what food is the right one to be eaten and about circumcision
• These were very heated and emotional issues during the 1st Council of the Church
• Peter operates with a Jewish background while Paul operates with his faith experience with the Gentiles
• And the result: All kinds of food can now be eaten because God has cleansed them
• What defiles the person is not what goes in through the mouth but the one that comes out because it comes from the heart
• Circumcision was no longer required because the physical circumcision is already useless and the more important one is the circumcision of the heart, the way to conversion
• You see, a real leader is the one who works for the cause of his subjects
• Peter has won to preserve the tradition of the Jews and Paul won because the Gentiles must be excluded from Jewish rituals

C. Challenge

• So today we are reminded that leadership in whatever states of we belong is a must even if we have many or few followers or even with no followers at all
• A good leader must be able to groom and prepare for a succession and most of all we must be decisive and such decision is appropriate in every situation
• If we do not decide there is a standstill, there is a status quo and there is no movement
• If we will not decide, it is tantamount to washing our own hands and we only want to secure our own safety
• Remember the parable of the Lord, it’s abhorrent if we do not exercise what we are supposed to do as in the case of the servant who simply buried his investment
• If there are no 2nd liners, the legacy in business that once bloomed will die a natural death and the next in succession will start from scratch
• The best leader is also a good follower because he listens. If not, we lose respect from our subjects because we are always right
• Lest we forget, the leader has to look up for the supreme leader who is God of course for guidance because as the 1st reading in 1 Corinthians puts it: the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain
• Leadership must be democratic and consultative as the wisdom of God is not the monopoly of the leader, it is distributed to everyone
• Our leadership will be in vain if we only think of our own because in leadership, we only share our authority with God