How to be or become a follower of Jesus Christ in the world and in your situation« Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.»
We too, like the disciples, if we believe ourselves to be Christians, we all have the duty to cast our nets. We too, like the first disciples, have the duty to announce the Word to others.
But how? Proclaiming the word to the square aloud, reading or commenting a passage from the Gospel?
Perhaps we could do it if we were in London on a Sunday morning in one of these places dedicated to this kind of events(1).
In such places, anyone can start haranguing in the air and gathering a small crowd in front of him, and perhaps declaiming on a podium without being taken for a mad one.
Hyde Park - Speaker's Corner scene
For example, I wouldn't mind at all, I've spoken in public and also conducted technical seminars in English and Spanish, and I wouldn't have any problem.
But there's the fact that, like me, most if not none of the normal Christians have the opportunity to be in Hyde Park, and then we're not all used to speaking in public.
So we wonder what the results of our speech would be. Would they be incisive? And even if we managed to bring together a small crowd of Sunday aficionados, would they last? After all, we are lay people and there are many occasions to listen to the catechesis of religious who know more than us.
THEN, HOW TO FULLFILL?
All of us Christians who wish to "cast the nets" to obey Jesus, can do so in our ordinary life, without ostentation, by behaving naturally, in order to make others understand the beauty of being a Christian by the example of our life, at work, in family, in the life of relationship with others.
I don't dwell on repeating details, things that I have already written in other reviews. It will then be Jesus who will ensure that the fish fill the nets, and that someone is converted. Even the undersigned, faced with the commitment to write these comments, which he has assumed autonomously and voluntarily and which he can freely abandon, sometimes wonders if anyone is reading them, and if they are effective.
When we all doubt our Christian life, we should remember the parable of the mustard seed, as well as the words of St. Peter that we read above: "At your word I will let down the nets".
So what really matters to this world is striving to live according to the teachings of Christ. And for that, it is necessary in my opinion to read a passage of the Gospel every day, to pray over it and to meditate on it. But this is not enough: it is also necessary to read, study and document oneself to understand how each of us, in the position where God wanted to place him, and according to his own concrete responsibilities, can correctly contextualize the Gospel discourse to teach in reality and strive to apply it in reality. everyday practice.
Lino Bertuzzi Feb, 06, 2022
Note (1) for example in the famous Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, or in those of other London parks - Kennington, Victoria and othersi
End
No fear! the Mercy of Jesus
is INFINITE
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5,1-11.
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."
Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets."
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
