Homily for April 21, 2017.
We all have a purpose for which God
created us. No human being is a mistake. You are alive for a reason; failure to
fulfil your purpose amounts to mere futility. Your purpose is not necessarily what
you like or what fetches you money, it is what God desires for you.
Your life actually begins the moment
you discover your purpose and it doesn’t matter how old you are by then. Peter
had always seen himself as a fisherman, he like the business and was pretty
successful in it for a while but that was not his purpose. Fishing could earn
him money and respect but God created him for preaching.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry,
we are told how one day, Jesus used Peter’s boat to preach. Quoting
from Luke’s Gospel, we read: And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master,
we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the
nets.”
And
when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets
were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and
help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
But
when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying: “Depart from me,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with
him, at the catch of fish which they had taken… And Jesus said to Simon, “Do
not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” Luke 5:4-10.
That
same Peter after having spent three good years with Jesus, after having being
told his mission was to catch men, after having being told: “You are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), and despite seeing the resurrected
Jesus twice already still had the effrontery to return to fishing dragging the
other disciples along.
That
was another night of utter disappointment. With all their skill and experience,
they caught nothing, not even a single fish. This was the second time this kind
of thing would be happening and for the second time, Jesus again would bid them
to catch fish at a wrong time and in a wrong place only for them to make an
extremely huge catch.
Peter
got the message. At this point, there would be no going back. There would be no
consideration of fishing. Not even when he and John had to be arrested by the
religious leaders for preaching in the name of Jesus as we read in our first
reading. Instead of feeling sorry for himself or wishing he had returned to
fishing, Peter would come out boldly in defense of Jesus saying “This is the
stone which was rejected but has become the cornerstone.”
If Peter
had not faced such disappointment in fishing twice, he would not have been able
to stand a single persecution in the work of God. So in the long run the utter disappointment
he faced became a blessing in disguise. Even when things were hard in the task
of evangelization, going back to fishing was not an option.
Dear
friends, every disappointment is a blessing in disguise.
At times,
God may use disappointment to reveal our purpose in life. However we discover
our purpose, let us stick to it and never look back. Life is only worth living
when we know our purpose. We would not have to compare ourselves with others
and we would be willing to make sacrifices willingly just like Peter and John
without looking back.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, help me discover my purpose even if it means me experiencing disappointment
in life. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Easter Friday. Bible Study: Acts 4:1-12 and John 21:1-14).
Fr. Abu.
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