The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church, proclaim our mission to serve as fishers in Jesus' great harvest of love.
The Reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians proclaims The Role of God’s Ministers.
* [3:21–23] These verses pick up the line of thought of 1 Cor 1:10–13. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise (1 Cor 3:18–20), their perceptions would be reversed, and they would see everything in the world and all those with whom they exist in the church in their true relations with one another. Paul assigns all the persons involved in the theological universe a position on a scale: God, Christ, church members, church leaders. Read from top to bottom, the scale expresses ownership; read from bottom to top, the obligation to serve. This picture should be complemented by similar statements such as those in 1 Cor 8:6 and 1 Cor 15:20–28. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 24 affirms people's fidelity before being admitted into the sanctuary.
* [Psalm 24] The Psalm apparently accompanied a ceremony of the entry of God (invisibly enthroned upon the ark), followed by the people, into the Temple. The Temple commemorated the creation of the world (Ps 24:1–2). The people had to affirm their fidelity before being admitted into the sanctuary (Ps 24:3–6; cf. Ps 15). A choir identifies the approaching God and invites the very Temple gates to bow down in obeisance (Ps 24:7–10). (Psalms, PSALM 24 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Luke presents the Call of Simon the Fisherman.
* [5:1–11] This incident has been transposed from his source, Mk 1:16–20, which places it immediately after Jesus makes his appearance in Galilee. By this transposition Luke uses this example of Simon’s acceptance of Jesus to counter the earlier rejection of him by his hometown people, and since several incidents dealing with Jesus’ power and authority have already been narrated, Luke creates a plausible context for the acceptance of Jesus by Simon and his partners. Many commentators have noted the similarity between the wondrous catch of fish reported here (Lk 5:4–9) and the post-resurrectional appearance of Jesus in Jn 21:1–11. There are traces in Luke’s story that the post-resurrectional context is the original one: in Lk 5:8 Simon addresses Jesus as Lord (a post-resurrectional title for Jesus—see Lk 24:34; Acts 2:36—that has been read back into the historical ministry of Jesus) and recognizes himself as a sinner (an appropriate recognition for one who has denied knowing Jesus—Lk 22:54–62). As used by Luke, the incident looks forward to Peter’s leadership in Luke-Acts (Lk 6:14; 9:20; 22:31–32; 24:34; Acts 1:15; 2:14–40; 10:11–18; 15:7–12) and symbolizes the future success of Peter as fisherman (Acts 2:41).
* [5:11] They left everything: in Mk 1:16–20 and Mt 4:18–22 the fishermen who follow Jesus leave their nets and their father; in Luke, they leave everything (see also Lk 5:28; 12:33; 14:33; 18:22), an indication of Luke’s theme of complete detachment from material possessions.(Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
In today’s scripture, Cindy Costanzo can feel the apostle’s weariness, hopelessness, and concern. Yet Simon Peter can do as Jesus commands based on true trust, the decision to be obedient even when there was doubt; or when logic told him “No way” - but Simon Peter throws in the net one more time.
Jesus asks us to trust him. How do we build that trust muscle? I know keeping Jesus close to me is key in strengthening trust. What works for me may not work for others. But here it goes. Daily quiet time with Jesus even if for a few minutes asking the Holy Spirit to impact my day; attending services and listening to an expert interpret the scriptures, joining bible studies, listening to music that praises the Holy Spirit; identifying gratitude’s - what are 5 things I am grateful for today? Completing the Examen, it does not happen every day but it’s an important tool for me. Service - what one thing can I do to be of service today for someone? These activities allow me to embrace Jesus and his teachings and build my ability to keep Jesus close to me and build that trust muscle. Trust was a necessary trait 2000 years ago as it is today. Come Holy Spirit! (Costanzo, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “By faith Peter casts the nets of Christ's teaching,” by Maximus of Turin (died between 408-423 AD)
"'That you may understand that the Lord was speaking of spiritual fishing, however, Peter says, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' It is as if he were saying, 'Through the whole night our fishing has brought us nothing, and we have been laboring in vain. Now I will not fish with fishing gear but with grace, not with diligence acquired by skill but with the perseverance acquired by devotion.' When Peter lets down the nets at the word, therefore, he is in fact letting down the teachings in Christ. When he unfolds the tightly woven and well-ordered nets at the command of the Master, he is really laying out words in the name of the Savior in a fitting and clear fashion. By these words he is able to save not creatures but souls. 'We toiled all night,' he says, 'and took nothing.' Peter, who beforehand was unable to see in order to make a catch, enduring darkness without Christ, had indeed toiled through the whole night. But when the Savior's light shone upon him the darkness scattered, and by faith he began to discern in the deep what he could not see with his eyes." (excerpt from SERMON 110.2.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the readings for today. Paul speaks to the Corinthians not about worldly wisdom but about Divine Revelation because their revelation is based on ego and pride. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas are not important. Does Christ come through in our speech? In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus asks the fishers to drop their nets in deep water even when those nets would only catch surface fish who normally retreat to colder deeper water as the Sea of Galilee warms in the sun. The catch is so abundant that Peter, in recognition of the Divine Intervention and the implication to his life, declares “Depart from me a sinful man”. Friar Jude notes a kind of recognition of the transformation of our gifts for building the Kingdom as Peter and the fishers are called to do.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 5:1-11 comments Jesus invites all of us into “deep water”? Through prayer, he calls us into a personal relationship with him. Yet perhaps we sometimes feel a bit like Peter when he told the Lord, “We have worked hard all night and have caught nothing” (Luke 5:5). Maybe we try to talk to God but don’t feel his presence or sense him speaking to us. Or we continue to ask him to heal a difficult relationship or a loved one, but nothing happens. It’s tempting in such situations to skip our times of prayer or stop praying altogether. It’s hard to keep lowering our nets, only to come up empty once again!
Every day, find a time to “put out into deep water” by raising your heart and mind to your Lord. Even if you don’t harvest a “great number of fish” each time you pray (Luke 5:6), trust that he is pleased with your desire to know him more deeply and to follow him more closely.
“Lord, help me to go deeper with you.” (Meditation on Luke 5:1-11, n.d.)
Father Richard Rohr considers the cross as the center of Jesus’s life—fully human, fully divine—and expressing total solidarity with the pain of the world.
Jesus the Christ, in his crucifixion and resurrection, “recapitulated all things in himself, everything in heaven and everything on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). This one verse is the summary of Franciscan Christology. Jesus agreed to carry the mystery of universal suffering. He allowed it to change him (resurrection) and—it is to be hoped—us, too. Christ frees us from the endless cycle of projecting our pain elsewhere or remaining trapped inside of it…
The gospel is simply the wisdom of those who agree to carry their part of the infinite suffering of God. It must be recognized that many non-Christians fully accept this vocation with greater freedom than many Christians. (Rohr, n.d.)
We implore the Spirit to reinforce the strength of our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader as we go out to challenge the deep waters to let down our nets with compassion and care and bring home to God a catch that overpowers doubt with nets of abundant love.
References
Costanzo, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton On Line Ministries. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-3-2026
Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/5?
Meditation on Luke 5:1-11. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/09/03/1661829/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/3?
Psalms, PSALM 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/24?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Full of Suffering, Full of Love. CAC Daily Meditation. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/full-of-suffering-full-of-love/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). You Will Catch People for the Kingdom of God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 3, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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