5th Sunday after Epiphany – Year C

February 9, 2025

Gospel Lectionary Text

Luke 5:1-11

5:1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,

5:2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

5:3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

5:5 Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."

5:6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

5:7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

5:9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;

5:10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who are partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

5:11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Context

Welcome to the 5th Sunday after Epiphany. Last week, Jesus’ refusal to play the scapegoating game nearly got Him lynched. This week, He leaves the synagogue to preach on the shores of Lake Gennesaret — where chaos still brews, just in a different form.

As the crowd presses in to hear, Jesus commandeers Simon’s boat to preach from the shallows. Once the sermon is complete, He ups the ante: “Go deeper. Drop your nets.” In Scripture, deep water symbolizes mystery and risk — chaotic territory outside our control. Yet it’s precisely in that wild unknown that grace pools up. The catch of fish is so massive it draws together the entire community, its abundance nearly overwhelming them.

Simon’s instinct is to back away in terror. Yet Jesus calls him forward, deeper. He honors Simon’s vocation as a fisherman and expands it, stretching it into something that not even Peter dared to ask for or even imagine.

Question

Pushing into deep water, into chaos, feels counterintuitive. But that's also where the Spirit hovers. Where is the "good catch" in the midst of the chaos in your context?

Reflections

The Abundance of Community

I think the part that most bothered me about this (besides catching people like fish—do you gut them after you catch them?) was that it was all up to me. Would I let Jesus in my boat? Would I follow? Would I fish for people? My salvation depended on my choice alone.

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Can Girls Fish?

All the images I saw on the walls of my Sunday school classrooms were pictures of white children and a white Jesus who looked like a surfer. And then there were stories like today’s Gospel in which boys were the lucky ones. They were on the shore that day to receive the amazing invitation from...

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Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:

Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.

Poetry

Ours is not a Caravan Despair
by Rumi

Come, come, whoever you are,
wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Even if you’ve broken your vows a thousand times,
come, yet again, come, come.

Prayer

YHWH, in the beginning you formed us from the dust of the ground and breathed into us the breath of life. Breathe on us, in us and through us now that we might embody our most sacred vocation—to become fully human, be one with you and all creation and do things we never thought possible.