Duc in Altum

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Thursday, 4 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we come and listen to the words of the Scriptures, as we heard how Jesus our Lord met and recruited the disciples to His cause, calling them from their former worldly professions into their new work and vocation for the sake of mankind and for the greater glory of God. They left behind their possessions so that they gained a greater reward in God, that is a possession that lasts forever.

Today we heard about how those humble fishermen of the lake of Galilee, Peter and Andrew his brother, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, were called, from their boats and nets, that they would no longer just catch fishes in the lake to be sold in the market and to feed themselves, but instead they would become the fishers of men, to bring mankind back to the Lord their God.

And we have to take note how the Lord did not call the great and powerful, nor the righteous and holy ones to be His disciples, as He could easily have done so, and His works would have been so much easier. No, the Lord did not do that. Instead, He called on the sinners and the weak, those who have low standing in the society, such as fishermen, a simple and menial job, as well as others, including tax collectors such as Levi, later known as Matthew.

The idea here is clearly stated in the first reading, where St. Paul in his letter to the faithful in Corinth rebuked those who assumed that they were wise and great, and he therefore those who immersed themselves in their pride, thinking only about themselves and their achievements, and thinking that because of their wisdom, influence or other abilities and deeds, they were rightful in gloating over others’ supposed inferiority. This, as St. Paul said, would bring about their doom.

Yes, indeed, the Lord called sinners and simple people to be His disciples, not only because He truly came into this world to save the sinners and those whose souls were sick, but He also knew that those who were not burdened with the many concerns of the world and the taint of power and glory, would have been much better disciples and servants of the will of God, as they are likely to have less ego and pride than those who are powerful and great in the world.

God desires not our death and destruction, but in fact He seeks for our redemption from sin. And this is by delivering His Good News and the truth about Himself to mankind, and this is akin to the net being cast out from the ship to catch the various fishes in the sea. And like the net, those who listen to the word of God will be ensnared in that net, and thus, they would be able to continue to listen to the word of God and hence be saved.

The ship itself represents the Church of God, which God had established Himself in this world, to bring His people to safety and towards His kingdom which is to come. And the Apostles whom Jesus had called from among the people are indeed like the fishermen, who steered the ship that is the Church of God, in order to ensure that the Church can sail safely amidst any storms in the sea. Those storms represent the challenges and the oppositions which Satan and his allies, the forces of sin and darkness, which often bar our path and prevent us from truly seeking God.

Yet, with the guidance of the Apostles and the disciples, whose successors continue to do the good works of steering the Church of God, namely through the successor of St. Peter, the fisherman, who is our Pope now, the Church remains a great destination for many of the people lost in the darkness, and it becomes a beacon of light for them to find their way to God. And the fishermen, the successors of the Apostles and disciples of Christ, our priests and bishops worked to bring the people of God back to Him, as the fishers of men.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, however we cannot be idle ourselves, as our priests and bishops cannot possibly do everything on their own without our help and support. If they are the fishers of men, the ones on the ship who handle the net and the fish, then we are like those helpers and workers who keep the ship steady and strong even when it is battered by a strong wind and gale, as well as strong waves of the sea.

And God also challenged us all to do more, by saying to His disciples, ‘Duc in Altum’, which is the phrase translated to Latin, and then to our language today as ‘To go into the deep’. And this highlighted to us all the very fact that fishes mostly lie far into the sea and deep within the ocean waters, and many live far from the surface. Therefore, in order to get more fish, the fishers have to go to deeper waters and cast their nets to deeper waters.

This means that, we cannot just lie in our comfort zone and wait for the people of God to come to us in repentance. The many tricks and ways of the devil to confound mankind are simply able to prevent many souls from ever reaching the Lord through the Church, because the lies and the machinations of Satan would be able to close their hearts and their senses from ever being opened to receive the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore let us all think about what had happened in our own lives. Have we done our part as the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have we been proactive in our faith, taking the initiative to seek our lost brothers and sisters who are still engulfed in the darkness of the world and languished under the tyranny and power of Satan?

Therefore, let us all ‘go into the deep’, and work hard to help one another, especially those who truly need it, so that more and more souls, the ‘fishes’ of the Lord may be saved and that mankind may all come to the Lord and praise Him together as one people lifted up from sin and darkness into the light. May Almighty God guide us in our works and in our endeavours, and protect us so that we may continue to do our best to help each other in seeking the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 5 September 2013 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the story of the calling of Simon Peter and his companions, the sons of Zebedee, fishermen of Galilee, to become the fishers of mankind. They have been called from their boats, from the Sea of Galilee, to be a part of the grand plan of salvation.

As fishermen at sea, Simon and the other fishermen merely did their daily routine of catching fishes, but then as the fishers of mankind, they broke out of their previous life, and went through trials and tribulations, going to different parts of the world, fishing ‘mankind’ and bring them to God. The world is now their fishing ground, and not just the Lake of Galilee anymore, where they used to work as fishermen.

They had been given greater and nobler purpose in their lives, that is to bring souls they had caught to God. How did they catch them then? No, not by fishing net as they had done to the fishes of Lake Galilee. They did that by being witnesses of Christ, of His death and His glorious resurrection. They preached the Good News to people who had not yet witnessed or heard about Christ before.

In that way they had spread the nets, yes, the nets of the kingdom of God, that all those who are not yet worthy of the kingdom of God, can be brought together in love, and put on the right track towards salvation in God. The Apostles went through much hardships and difficulties as they tried to bring the Lord to mankind, suffering rejection, persecution, and mockery in the process.

Yet the Apostles are not superhuman, brethren, as they are also humans like us. They suffered from doubt, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty especially when Jesus was still among them, and they were indeed scattered when jesus was taken from them by betrayal of Judas, scattered like sheep without a shepherd to guide them.

What is important is that the Apostles did not abandon their calling, the same calling God had called them for when He called Simon Peter and the sons of Zebedee from the Lake, and also for the other disciples. They kept their faith and believed in the Lord when He returned to them after the resurrection. They were empowered with the Holy Spirit, the Advocate on the day of the Pentecost.

They faced oppositions from the Pharisees and the chief priests, as well as the Roman authorities, when they went on to spread the Good News of the Lord. It is indeed as if the Apostles, the fishers of mankind, faced terrible waves and storms in their journey to ‘catch’ mankind to salvation in God. They persevered despite the heavy stormy conditions and saved many in the process.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, how is this then relevant to us who live in this world today, two thousand years after Jesus called His disciples? It is precisely because the work of the Apostles as the fishers of men dis not just stop with them or with their death. The Apostles had appointed their successors to lead the Church of God, and they are truly our priests and bishops of today.

Yes, brethren, they are the successors of the original fishers of men, and their duty is no less heavy as compared to that of the Apostle’s. They also have to work hard to ‘catch’ mankind and bring them into the kingdom of God, just as the Apostles had once done. However, brethren, in fact, we should, in our own small ways, be fishers of men too. Yes, fishers of men, that is to bring the people to God.

How do we do that? It is by showing God to mankind, the living God through our words, deeds, and actions, that the Lord and His everlasting love will be made manifest in this world, through us. The same is also done by our priests and bishops, as the Apostles too had done themselves once. In doing that, we cast out wide the nets of the kingdom, and fish out many men.

Do not be disheartened brothers and sisters, if we think that we cannot do much. Indeed, even one man can make much a difference in our world, and save many. If we start with small things, even eventually this can have large impact, just as we can see in wave ripples, where even small wave can have huge impact on the water, as the waves built upon each other in strength.

The Lord had asked Simon Peter to go and put his net into the deep, and there he found many fish, so many that the ship almost sank. This is also known in Latin as Duc in Altum, ‘to put into the deep’. Again, through this, the Lord challenges all of us, to not just remain in our comfort zone, that is ‘near the shore’, and instead set out to the deep. As fishermen all know, the further out they go into the sea, the more fish they will be able to catch. Thus, we too ought to follow the lead and cast our ‘net’ into the deep, that means giving out of ourselves in ever greater ways, in full and complete dedication and love for our fellow brethren.

Therefore, let us also take the opportunity given to all of us, to be like the Apostles of Christ, to reach out to our fellow brethren who have yet to know Christ, that we can play each of our own parts in the Church of God, with our Pope, the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, chief of the apostles, and the bishops as leaders, together working as the fishers of mankind, for the sake of the salvation of all in Christ. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 5 September 2013 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 5 : 1-11

One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.