5th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

It is said of the apostles that “they left everything and followed after him.”

These are radical words because what they demand from us is an unending love for Jesus Christ. Without a true relationship which is founded upon Christ we will continue to cast our net out into the sea, but we will never catch a thing. With Christ alone will we be able to cast our net and make an abundant catch.

Jesus commands us: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” What we are to catch is that of souls which we will gather for Christ. The torrents of the deep are rough, but nevertheless the foundation which is Christ and His Church remains as firm as a rock for us.

When we loose the sight of Christ the waters of the deep beat us about and we will not catch a anything. We are in search of something which will feel the void which exists in our hearts. Our hearts desire that we may be loved, but we endlessly chase after love and belonging in so many areas which ultimately leave us and the reality of our salvation placed in harms way.

Christ is instructing us that we are not to give into the relativism where the world desires to banish God from our midst. Instead we are to hold fast to the teaching of the apostles such as Paul whose conversion to the Gospel was a story of great awe. To think that a man who had persecuted Christians and put them to death was called to conversion. Through his experience of conversion he turned away from worldly allurement and entrusted himself to loving mercy of Christ. Through his conversion he cast his net into the deep and from it he made an abundant catch of souls for Christ.

Wednesday will fall the beginning of Lent with our celebration of Ash Wednesday. The reception of ashes reminds us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. They remind us of a spirit of conversion and abandonment which lead us towards hearing the voice of Christ more clearly from the midst of a world which is filled with so many distractions.

If we are to live Christian joy which draws souls to encounter Christ and His Church we must find ways to more clearly hear the voice of Christ in order that we may respond to His call. Lent is not to deprive ourself of a favorite food because we are fulfilling the letter of the law, but Lent is to better conform our mind and heart towards Christ through actions of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Take advantage of Lent for these penitential practices assist us in coming to know Christ and thus the joys contained within the Gospel. They will increase within us the Christian virtues and will banish the plague of vice which has come to infest us.

May we allow ourself to leave all behind in order that we may follow after Christ. With our complete trust placed here may we come to permeate the joy of the Gospel to the world. From this expression of Christian joy we lead souls to encounter this same Jesus Christ and thus entrust themselves to Him and His abundant mercy which He desires to extend unto the whole world. But if we are to do this, we must first entrust ourself to this reality.