Dear brothers and sisters,

Jesus fills our emptiness. In the gospel we just read the boat was empty; something was missing, besides the fish. They set out; but they set out without Jesus. Isn´t that sometimes the case with all of us? We want to trust in ourselves, we don´t want to have to rely on God. And at the same time, deep down we really do want to rely on God, we want to trust in him but like the apostles found out, it is difficult to surrender control to God. Once the apostles did that, they were able to pull in a great number of fish. We are called by Jesus to do the same and put our trust in Him. Once we surrender to the will of God we can begin to see His hand at work in our hearts and our lives. In fact, we make this prayer at each Mass.

There’s a moment when the priest holds up the Body and Blood of Christ, and says: “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” And everyone responds: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” In other words, “Lord, without You my boat is empty. I’m not worthy to receive You, but please heal me and fill me with Your loving mercy.” And He will.

Peace,

Fr. Mike