Christians must bring hope, forgiveness to world
Published: May 10, 2019
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily May 5.
Ten days ago, on April 26, I celebrated my 40th anniversary of ordination to the diaconate, the last step before priesthood a year later.
It was at diaconate that I promised prayer, obedience and celibacy. At ordination to the priesthood I renewed these promises, but I was already bound to them since diaconate. That day of commitment was the pivot on which my whole life turned. All that I had done before, including seminary, prepared me for what the Lord was now asking me to dedicate the rest of my life to.
In today’s Gospel we see that Jesus’ disciples, and especially Peter, had this same experience. Everything that they had done before, including their three years with Jesus as his disciples, literally his students (his seminarians), prepared them for what he was now asking them to dedicate the rest of their lives: to be fishers of men.
Today’s Gospel describes this turning point in their lives from two perspectives: hope and forgiveness.
• Hope: Jesus entrusted to them a mission that God will cause to be amazingly fruitful, symbolized by the great catch of fish in today’s Gospel. Working for themselves they catch nothing, but working for the Lord they catch more than they know what to do with. The mission that Jesus
Article source: https://www.arkansas-catholic.org/columns/column/6047/Christians-must-bring-hope-forgiveness-to-world