Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

God our Father,

You redeem us

and make us Your children in Christ.

Look upon us,

give us true freedom

and bring us to the inheritance You promised.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile. After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

3) Reflection

• Today, September 8th, Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, the Gospel gives us the genealogy, or birth certificate, of Jesus. By means of the list of His ancestors, the Evangelist tells the communities who Jesus is and how God acts in a surprising way in order to fulfill His promise. On our birth certificate there is our name and the name of our parents. Some people, to say who they are, also recall the names of the grandparents. Others are ashamed of their ancestors, of their families, and hide behind appearances which deceive. The birth certificate of Jesus has many names. On the list of names there is a great novelty. At that time, the genealogy indicated only the names of the men. This is why it is surprising that Matthew also mentions five women among the ancestors of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah and Mary. Why does he choose precisely these five women and not others? This is the question which the Gospel of Matthew leaves for us.

• Matthew 1:1-17: The long list of names – the beginning and the end of the genealogy. At the beginning and at the end of the genealogy, Matthew clearly makes us understand Jesus’ identity: He is the Messiah, son of David and son of Abraham. As descendant of David, Jesus is the response of God to the expectations of the Jewish people (2 Sam 7, 12, and 16). As descendant of Abraham, He is source of blessings and of hope for all nations of the earth (Gen 12-13). Therefore, in this way, both the Jews and the pagans who formed part of the communities of Syria and of Palestine at the time of Matthew could see that their hope was fulfilled in Jesus. .

Drawing up the list of the ancestors of Jesus, Matthew adopts a plan of 3 X 14 generations (Mt 1:17). The number two is the number of the divinity. Number 14 is two times 7, which is the number of perfection. At that time, it was something common to interpret or calculate God’s action by using numbers and dates. By means of these symbolic calculations, Matthew reveals the presence of God throughout the generations and expresses the conviction of the communities who said that Jesus appeared at the time established by God. With His coming history reaches its fulfillment.

The message of the five women mentioned in the genealogy. Jesus is the response of God to the expectation both of the Jews and of the pagans, but it is in a completely surprising way. In the stories of the four women of the Old Testament, mentioned in the genealogy, there is something abnormal. The four of them were foreigners, and they will conceive their sons outside the normal schema of the behavior of that time and they do not keep the requirements of the laws of purity of the time of Jesus. Tamar, a Canaanite, a widow, dresses as a prostitute of Jericho to oblige Judah to be faithful to her and to give her a son (Gen 38:1-30). Rahab, a prostitute from Jericho, makes an alliance with the Israelites. She helped them to enter the Promised Land and professed faith in a God who liberates from the Exodus. (Judg 2:1-21). Bathsheba, a Hittite, wife of Uriah, was seduced, abused and made pregnant by King David, who in addition to that, ordered her husband to be killed (2 Sam 11:1-27). Ruth, a Moabite, a poor widow, chose to remain with Naomi and adhere to the people of God (Rt 1, 16-18). Advised by her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth imitates Tamar and spends the night together with Boaz, obliging him to observe the law and to give her a son. From their relation Obed was born, the grandfather of King David (Ruth 3:1-15; 4:13-17). These four women question the models of behavior imposed by the patriarchal society. And thus, their conventional initiative will give continuity to the descendants of Jesus and will bring salvation to all the people. Through them, God realizes His plan and sends the promised Messiah. Truly, God’s way of acting surprises and makes one think! At the end the reader will ask, “And Mary? Is there something irregular in her? What is it? We get the response from the story of Saint Joseph which follows in (Mt 1:18-23).

• Mathew 1:18-23: Saint Joseph was just. What was irregular in Mary is that she became pregnant before living together with Joseph, her betrothed, who was a just man. Jesus says, “If your justice is not greater than the justice of the Pharisees and the scribes, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” If Joseph had been just according to the justice of the Pharisees, he would have denounced Mary and she would have been stoned. Jesus would have died. Thanks to the true justice of Joseph, Jesus was able to be born.

4) Personal questions

• When I present myself to others, what do I say about myself and about my family?

• If the Evangelist mentions only these five women together with over forty men, no doubt, he wants to communicate a message. What is this message? What does all this tell us about the identity of Jesus? And what does this say about us?

5) Concluding Prayer

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingship

and tell of Your might,

making known Your mighty deeds to the children of Adam,

the glory and majesty of Your kingship. (Ps 145:10-11)

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

God our Father,

You redeem us

and make us Your children in Christ.

Look upon us,

give us true freedom

and bring us to the inheritance You promised.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 6:12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

3) Reflection

• The Gospel today presents two facts: the choice of the twelve apostles (Lk 6:12-16) and the enormous crowds who want to meet Jesus (Lk 6:17-19). The Gospel today invites us to reflect on the twelve who were chosen to live with Jesus, being apostles. The first Christians remembered and registered the name of these twelve and of some other men and women, who followed Jesus and who, after His Resurrection, began to create the communities for the world outside. Today, also, we remember some catechists or people significant for our own Christian formation.

• Luke 6:12-13: The choice of the 12 apostles. Before choosing the twelve apostles definitively, Jesus spent a whole night in prayer. He prays in order to know whom to choose and then chooses the twelve, whose names are in the Gospels and they will receive the name of apostles. Apostle means sent, missionary. They were called to carry out a mission, the same mission that Jesus received from the Father (Jn 20:21). Mark is more concrete and says that God called them to be with Him and He sends them on mission (Mk 3: 14).

• Luke 6:14-16: The names of the 12 Apostles. With small differences the names of the twelve are the same in the Gospels of Matthew (Mt 10:2-4), Mark (Mk 3:16-19) and Luke (Lk 6:14-16). The majority of these names come from the Old Testament. For example, Simeon is the name of one of the sons of the patriarch Jacob (Gen 29: 33). James (Giacomo) is the same name of Jacob (Gen 25:26), Judah is the name of the other son of Jacob (Gen 35:23). Matthew also had the name of Levi (Mk 2:14), the other son of Jacob (Gen 35:23) Of the twelve apostles, seven have a name that comes from the time of the patriarchs: two times Simon, two times, James, two times Judah, and one time Levi! That reveals the wisdom and the pedagogy of the people. Through the names of the patriarchs and the matriarchs, which were given to the sons and daughters, people maintained alive the tradition of the ancestors and helped their own children not to lose their identity. What are the names which we give our children today?

• Luke 6:17-19: Jesus goes down from the mountain and people are looking for Him. Coming down from the mountain with the twelve, Jesus found an immense crowd of people who were trying to hear His words and to touch Him, because people knew that a life force came out of Him. In this crowd there were Jews and foreigners, people from Judaea and also from Tyre and Sidon. There were people who were abandoned, disoriented. Jesus accepts all those who look for Him, Jews and pagans! This is one of the themes preferred by Luke!

These twelve men, called by Jesus to form the first community, were not saints. They were common people, like all of us. They had their virtues and their defects. The Gospels tell us very little on the temperament and the character of each one of them. But what they say, even if not much, is for us a reason for consolation.

- Peter was a generous person and full of enthusiasm (Mk 14:29,31; Mt 14:28-29), but at the moment of danger and of making a decision, his heart becomes small and cannot go ahead (Mt 14:30; Mk 14:66-72). He was even Satan for Jesus (Mk 8:33). Jesus calls him Rock (Peter). Peter of himself was not ‘Pietra’ - Rock, he becomes Rock (Pietra) because Jesus prays for him (Lk 22:31-32).

- James and John are ready to suffer with and for Jesus (Mk 10:39), but they were very violent (Lk 9:54), Jesus calls them “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17). John seemed to have some sort of envy. He wanted Jesus only for his group (Mk 9:38).

- Philip had a nice welcoming way. He knew how to put others in contact with Jesus (Jn 1:45-46), but he was not too practical in solving the problems (Jn 12:20-22; 6:7). Sometimes he was very naïve. There was a moment when Jesus lost His patience with him: Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know Me? (Jn 14: 8-9).

- Andrew, the brother of Peter and friend of Philip, was more practical. Philip goes to him to solve the problems (Jn 12:21-22). Andrew calls Peter (Jn 1:40-41), and Andrew found the boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish (Jn 6:8-9).

- Bartholomew seems to be the same as Nathanael. This one was from there and could not admit that anything good could come from Nazareth (Jn 1:46).

- Thomas was capable of sustaining his own opinion, for a whole week, against the witness of all the others (Jn 20:24-25). But when he saw that he was mistaken, he was not afraid to acknowledge his error (Jn 20:26-28). He was generous, ready to die with Jesus (Jn 11: 16).

- Matthew or Levi was a Publican, a tax collector, like Zaccheus (Mt 9:9; Lk 19:2). They were people who held to the system of oppression of that time.

- Simon, instead, seems to have belonged to the movement which radically opposed the system which the Roman Empire imposed on the Jewish people. This is why he was also called Zealot (Lk 6:15). The group of the Zealots even succeeded in bringing about an armed revolt against the Romans.

- Judah was the one who was in charge of the money in the group (Jn 13:29). He betrayed Jesus.

- James, son of Alphaeus, and Judas Thaddeus. The Gospels say nothing of these two; they only mention their name.

4) Personal questions

• Jesus spends the whole night in prayer to know whom to choose, and then He chooses those twelve. What conclusions can you draw? Do you do the same when making an important choice in your life?

• Do you recall the people who began the community to which you belong? What do you remember about them: the content of what they taught or the witness they gave?

5) Concluding Prayer

They shall dance in praise of His name,

play to Him on tambourines and harp!

For Yahweh loves His people,

He will crown the humble with salvation. (Ps 149:3-4)

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

God our Father,

You redeem us

and make us Your children in Christ.

Look upon us,

give us true freedom

and bring us to the inheritance You promised.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 6:6-11

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us." And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

3) Reflection

• Context: This passage presents Jesus who cures a man with a withered hand. Different from the context of chapters 3 and 4 in which Jesus is alone, now here He is surrounded by His disciples and the women who go around with Him. Therefore, here we have Jesus always moving. In the first stages of this journey the reader finds different ways of listening to the Word of Jesus on the part of those who follow Him and which, definitively, could be summarized in two experiences, which recall, in turn, two types of approaches: that of Peter (5:1-11) and that of the centurion (7:1-10). The first one encounters Jesus who invites Him after the miraculous catch to become a fisher of men; then he falls on his knees before Jesus: “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man” (5:8). The second one does not have any direct communication with Jesus: he has heard people speak very well about Jesus and he sends his envoys to ask for the cure of one of his servants who is dying; he is asking for something not for himself, but for a person who was a favorite of his. The figure of Peter expresses the attitude of the one who, discovering himself a sinner, places all his acts under the influence of the Word of Jesus. The centurion, showing solicitude for the servant, learns to listen to God. Well, between these itineraries or attitudes which characterize the itinerant journey of Jesus, is placed the cure of the man who presents the withered hand. This event of the miracle takes place in a context of debate or controversy: the ears of corn picked on the Sabbath and on the act of curing on a Saturday, precisely the withered hand. Between the two discussions there is the crucial role played by the Word of Jesus: “The Son of man is master of the Sabbath” (6:5). Continuing with this passage we ask ourselves what is the meaning of this withered hand? It is a symbol of the salvation of man who is taken back to the original moment, that of creation. The right hand, then, expresses human acting. Jesus then, gives back to this day of the week, Saturday, the deepest significance: it is the day of joy, of the restoration and not of limitation. What Jesus shows is the Messianic Saturday and not the legalistic one: the cures that He does are signs of the Messianic times, of restoration, of the liberation of man.

• The dynamic of the miracle. Luke places before Jesus a man who has a withered –------ hand, dry, paralyzed. Nobody is interested in asking for his cure, much less the one concerned. And just the same, the sickness was not only an individual problem but its effects had repercussion on the whole community. But in our account we do not have so much the problem of the sickness as that of the aspect that it was done on Saturday. Jesus is criticized because He cured on Saturday. The difference with the Pharisees is   that they on Saturday do not act on the basis of the commandment of love,which is the essence of the Law. Jesus, after having ordered the man to get in the middle of the assembly, formulates a decisive question: “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil?” The space for the answer is restricted: to cure or not to cure, or rather, to cure or to destroy (v.9). Let us imagine the difficulty of the Pharisees: it is forbidden that evil be done on Saturday or lead man to damnation, and even less to cure, because help was permitted only in case of extreme need. The Pharisees feel provoked and this causes aggressiveness in them. But it is evident that Jesus’ intention  in curing on Saturday is for the good of man and in the first place, for the one who is sick. This motivation of love invites us to reflect on our behavior and to found it on that of Jesus who saves. Jesus is not only attentive to cure the sick person but is interested also in the cure of His enemies: to cure them from their distorted attitude in their observance of the Law; to observe Saturday without freeing their neighbor from their misery and sickness is not in accordance with the will of God. According to the Evangelist, the purpose of the Sabbath is to do good, to save, like Jesus has done during His earthly life.

4) Personal questions

• Do you feel involved in the words of Jesus: how do you commit yourself in your service to life? Do you know how to create the necessary conditions so that others may live better?

• Do you know how to place at the center of your attention and of your commitment every person and all their requirements?

• Reflect on times you had a choice (big or small) to help another person, to do good, versus fulfill a requirement or rule. Did you choose rightly? Did you choose as Jesus would have?

5) Concluding Prayer

Joy for all who take refuge in You,

endless songs of gladness!

You shelter them, they rejoice in You,

those who love Your name. (Ps 5:11)

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Almighty God,

every good thing comes from You.

Fill our hearts with love for You,

increase our faith,

and by Your constant care

protect the good You have given us.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 5:33-39

The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink." Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." And he also told them a parable. "No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"

3) Reflection

• In today’s Gospel we witness closely a conflict between Jesus and the religious authority of the time, the scribes and the Pharisees (Lk 5:3). This time the conflict concerns the practice of fasting. Luke narrates diverse conflicts concerning the religious practice of the time: forgiveness of sins (Lk 5:21-25), to eat with sinners (Lk 5:29-32), fasting (Lk 5:33-36), and two conflicts on the observance of Saturday, the Sabbath (Lk 6:1-5 and Lk 6:6-11).

• Luke 5:33: Jesus does not insist on the practice of fasting. The conflict here is concerning the practice of fasting. Fasting is a very ancient custom, practiced by almost all religions. Jesus Himself followed it for forty days (Mt 4:2). But He does not insist with the disciples that they do the same. He leaves them free. This is why the disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to know why Jesus does not insist on fasting.

• Luke 5:34-35: When the bridegroom is with them they are not obliged to fast. Jesus responds with a comparison. When the bridegroom is with the friends of the bridegroom, that is, during the wedding feast, they should not fast. Jesus considers Himself the bridegroom. During the time when Jesus is with the disciples, it is the wedding feast. The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then, if they wish, they can fast. Jesus refers to His death. He knows and He is aware that if He wants to continue along this path of liberty, the authorities will want to kill Him.

Several times in the Old Testament, God presents Himself as the bridegroom of the people (Is 49:15; 54: 5,8; 62:4-5; Hos 2:16-25). In the New Testament, Jesus is considered the bridegroom of His people (Eph 5:25). The Apocalypses speaks of the celebration of the marriage of the Lamb with His spouse, the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 19: 7-8; 21: 2,9).

• Luke 5:36-39: New Wine in new skins! These words pronounced concerning the new piece of cloth on an old cloak and about new wine in old skins should be understood like a light which gives clarity to diverse conflicts, narrated by Luke, first and after the discussions concerning fasting. They clarify the attitude of Jesus concerning all the conflicts with the religious authorities. Nowadays these would be conflicts such as these: marriage between divorced persons, friendship with prostitutes and homosexuals,  receiving communion without being married in the Church, not to go to Mass on Sunday, not to fast on Good Friday, etc.

A piece of new cloth is not sewn on an old cloak, because when it is washed the new piece of cloth shrinks and tears the old cloak more. Nobody puts new wine in old skins, because the new wine, when it is fermented, makes the old skins burst. New wine in new skins! The religion taught by the religious authorities was like an old cloak, like an old skin. It is not necessary to want to combine the novelty brought by Jesus with old customs or uses. Either one or the other! The new wine which Jesus brings bursts the old skins. It is necessary to know how to separate both of these things. Very probably, Luke provides these words of Jesus to give direction to the communities of the years 80. There was a group of Christian Jews who wanted to reduce the novelty of Jesus to the Judaism of the beginning. Jesus is not against what is “ancient.” But He does not want the ancient to be imposed on the new, preventing it from manifesting itself. It would be as if the Catholic Church reduced the message of Vatican Council II to the pre-Vatican II practices, as many people today seem to want to do.

4) Personal questions

• Which conflicts about religious practices  cause suffering to people  today and are the cause of much discussion and polemics? What is the underlying image of God in all these preconceptions, norms and prohibitions?

• How can we understand today Jesus’ statement: “do not put a new piece of cloth on an old cloak?”  What is the message which you can draw from this for your life and for the life of the community?

5) Concluding Prayer

Commit your destiny to Yahweh,

be confident in Him, and He will act,

making your uprightness clear as daylight,

and the justice of your cause as the noon. (Ps 37:5-6)

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Almighty God,

every good thing comes from You.

Fill our hearts with love for You,

increase our faith,

and by your constant care

protect the good You have given us.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - 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 the boats 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.

3) Reflection

• In today’s Gospel we have the call of Jesus to Peter. The Gospel of Mark places the call of the first disciples after the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus (Mk 1:16-20). Luke places it after the fame of Jesus was already extended across the whole region (Lk 4:14). Jesus had cured many people (Lk 4:40) and had preached in the synagogues of all Judea (Lk 4:44). The people looked for Him and the crowds pushed Him on all sides in order to hear the Word of God (Lk 5:1). Luke makes the call easier to understand. In the first place, Peter can listen to Jesus’ words to the people, and then he is a witness to the miraculous catch of fish. It is only after this double surprising experience that he understands the call of Jesus. Peter responds. He abandons everything and becomes a “fisher of men.”

• Luke 5:1-3: Jesus teaches from the boat. People look for Jesus in order to listen to the Word of God. Many people get together around Jesus, making a throng around Him. Jesus seeks help from Simon Peter and from some of his companions who had just returned from fishing. He goes into the boat with them and responds to the expectation of the people, communicating  the Word of God to them. Sitting down, Jesus takes the attitude of a Teacher and speaks from a fisherman’s boat. The novelty consists in the fact that He teaches, not only in the synagogue for a choice public but in any place, where there are people who wish to listen, even on the seashore.

• Luke 5:4-5: “But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When He had finished speaking, Jesus addresses Himself to Simon and encourages him to fish again. In Simon’s response there is frustration, fatigue and discouragement: “Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing!” But trustful in Jesus’ word, they throw in the nets again and continue the struggle. The word of Jesus has greater force for them than the experience of frustration of that night!

• Luke 5: 6-7: The result is surprising. The catch is so abundant that the nets are about to tear and the boat begins to sink. Simon needs the help of John and James, who are in the other boat. Nobody is complete in himself, alone. One community has to help the other. The conflict among the communities, both at the time of Luke as well as today, should be overcome in order to attain a common objective, which is the mission. The experience of the force of the transformative word of Jesus  is the axis around which the differences are embraced and overcome.

• Luke 5:8-11: “Be fishers of men.” The experience of the closeness of God in Jesus makes Peter understand who he is: “Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man!” Before God we are all sinners. Peter and his companions are afraid and, at the same time, they feel attracted to Jesus. Jesus drives away fear: “Do not be afraid!” He calls Peter and commits him to the mission, ordering him to be a fisher of men. Peter experiences, quite concretely, that the word of Jesus is like the word of God. It is capable of bringing about what it affirms. In Jesus those rough and tough laborers will have an experience of power, of courage, of trust. And so then, “they will abandon everything and follow Jesus!” Up until now it was only Jesus who announced the Good News of the Kingdom. Now other people will be called and involved in the mission. This way in which Jesus works,  in a team, is also Good News for the people.

• The episode of the catch of fish along the lake indicates the attraction and the force of the Word of Jesus. He attracts people (Lk 5:1). He urges Peter to offer his boat to Jesus to be able to speak (Lk 5:3). The word of Jesus is so strong that it overcomes the resistance in Peter. It convinces him to cast the nets into the sea again and there is the miraculous catch (Lk 5:4-6). It overcomes in him the urge to leave Jesus and attracts him to become a “fisher of men” (Lk 5, 10). This is the way the Word of God acts in us, even now!

4) Personal questions

• Where and how does the miraculous catch of fish take place today?

• And they leaving everything followed Jesus. What do I have to leave in order to follow Jesus?

• In joining with other communities to, to overcome conflict between communities, how do we work together when both communities have the same stated mission, but have competing or conflicting ways to attain it?

5) Concluding Prayer

Who shall go up to the mountain of Yahweh?

Who shall take a stand in His holy place?

The one with clean of hands and a pure heart,

who does not swear an oath in order to deceive. (Ps 24:3-4)

Fr. Giovanni Grosso, O.Carm.,

Fr. Giovanni was born in Rome on March 27, 1958.  After he obtained a degree in Political Sciences in the University of Studies “La Sapienza” in Rome, he entered the Carmelite Order in 1983; he made his first profession on October 10, 1984 and was ordained a priest on June 29, 1989.  At the end of his studies in Philosophy and Theology, he obtained a Doctorate in Ecclesiastical History in the Pontifical Gregorian University.

He held several responsibilities in the Italian Province: Prior of different communities (Pisa, Rome – Traspontina, Rome Mostacciano), he was Parish Vicar in several Parishes; for a three year term he was responsible for the formation of professed students; several times he was a member of the Provincial Council as Counsellor, Assistant and Vice Prior Provincial.  He was Assistant Provincial of the Carmelite Third Order and worked a lot for the spiritual and cultural formation of the laity. He was member of the General Commission for formation which drew up the second edition of the Ratio institutionis  (Rome 2000), he has collaborated in the redaction of the Ratio institutionis  for the Cloistered Sisters (Rome 2007); he has been and is member of the International Commission for the laity.

He teaches Church History and Theology of Consecrated Life in the Pontifical Faculty of Theology “Marianum” and also in the Inter Diocesan Institute of Religious Sciences of the Castelli Romani.  In addition to his Doctoral thesis - Blessed Jean Soreth (1394-1471), Prior General, reformer and Spiritual  Master of the Carmelite Order,  Rome 2007 – he has published a book of Lectio Divina on Marian texts – With Mary Daughter of Sion, listening to the Word,  Padua 2002 – and numerous scientific articles which have appeared in several reviews.

from November 2007-2014 he was General Postulator of the Order and Dean of the Institutum Carmelitanum, as well as Director of Carmelus.