From Utter Disappointment to Super Abundance.

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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