Life in Abundance

Dear Friend,

Peace and all good be yours!

My boyhood memories of being on a lake are connected to my neighborhood friend Wes. It was a big deal when he’d invite me to go to Lake Lanier. His father - a Navy vet, as I recall -  would take us out on a small Boston Whaler. Looking back, I guess I was always more interested in what things were called (and why), than how to operate them, so I felt safe when Wes’s father - a big burly captain - was at the helm of the Boston Whaler.

Lake Lanier (named for the Georgia poet Sydney Lanier) comes to mind as I ponder the lakeside setting of this Sunday’s Gospel. At Lake Gennesaret Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and starts giving lessons. First, he teaches the crowd from the boat, and then comes the big lesson - a catch of fish like Peter and his partners have never seen before. 

Good for Peter for taking direction! He’s summoned to deeper water, and a deeper look at himself - clearly a humbling moment for a man probably used to being in charge. In handing over control to Jesus, he’s admitting that maybe he doesn’t have all the answers, or that he knows the best way to do things - even the best way to conduct his livelihood. 

Today Pope Francis, as Peter's successor, is summoning us as a Church to look more deeply at who we are. Joining the prophet Jesus entails risks to our emotional, spiritual, and institutional comfort zones. Ceding control gets more difficult as we get older. What’s promised in the deep water of life with Jesus is nothing less than awesome. He offers us life, and elsewhere in the Gospels that’s called life in abundance for a divided and hungry world.

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm