Prayer Presence and Progress

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate the role of our piety, study, and action in responding to Jesus' invitation to become fishers for faith, love, and truth.

Action as Fishers

The Reading from the Letter to the Colossians is a Prayer for Continued Progress.

* [1:9–14] Moved by Epaphras’ account, the apostle has prayed and continues to pray fervently for the Colossians that, in their response to the gospel, they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will (Col 1:9; cf. Col 3:10). Paul expects a mutual interaction between their life according to the gospel and this knowledge (Col 1:10), yielding results (fruit, Col 1:10; cf. Col 1:6) in every good work: growth, strength, endurance, patience, with joy (Col 1:11), and the further giving of thanks (Col 1:12).

* [1:12–14] A summary about redemption by the Father precedes the statement in Col 1:15–20 about the beloved Son who is God’s love in person (Col 1:13). Christians share the inheritance…in light with the holy ones, here probably the angels (Col 1:12). The imagery reflects the Exodus (delivered…transferred) and Jesus’ theme of the kingdom. Redemption is explained as forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 2:38; Rom 3:24–25; Eph 1:7). (Colossians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 98 extolls God for Israel’s victory.

* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke proclaims 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.)

Steve Scholer asserts that If we want to take up the challenge Jesus gave to Simon, the best place to start might be to deepen our own prayer life; seek the help of the Holy Spirit to feel comfortable sharing the good news; and pray that those with whom we interact will find a place in their hearts for God.

With the Holy Spirit at our side, some of us might share the good news when we encourage others to attend services, invite friends to participate in a Bible study group, or simply share stories of our faith.

Maybe just as important as overt actions intended to encourage others to know the Good News, is the need to focus on living our lives in a way that reflects God’s constant love for us. To demonstrate our faith through our deeds means actively serving others, forgiving those who have wronged us, and being a friend who will encourage and support others when in need.

By living our faith, we, too, can show others the endless joy we share because God is first and foremost in our lives. (Scholer, 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.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Colossians 1:9-14 comments that growth happens in such tiny steps that it can be hard to see. So what does this type of growth look like? It still comes from the Holy Spirit’s work in us, and as we pay attention, we will start to see it.

With practice, you will become better at noticing the ways the Spirit is moving in your life. When you see God at work, whether in big or small ways, your hope grows, and so does your faith. So rejoice that God is so committed to you!

And while you’re at it, imitate St. Paul by pointing out how the Spirit is working in your friends or family. You just might help open their eyes to the Spirit’s ways!

“Holy Spirit, thank you for all the ways you have helped me grow closer to you!” (Meditation on Colossians 1:9-14, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul continued with thanksgiving and prayer for people and that their faith be expressed in everyday action. He realizes some will be martyred and the author recognizes that suffering for the Gospel brings joy. Driven by the Spirit and in trust and faith in the message of God, Jesus at the Lake sees fishers washing nets in the morning. Jesus speaks to the crowd from the boat in a natural amphitheater. Simon responds about the chance to catch people. “Depart from me a sinful man” is a typical response to the holy with awe, wonder and fear, as Jesus uses their natural talent to be transformed to “fishers of men”. Friar Jude reminds us that our gifts are for the building up of the Kingdom.

Fr. Richard Rohr shares the encouragement Brother Lawrence offers to a lay woman.

God does not ask much of us, merely a brief thought of them from time to time, a little love, sometimes asking for grace, sometimes offering them your sufferings, other times thanking them for the blessings they have given, and are giving you. In the middle of your tasks you can comfort yourself with Love as often as you can, in all these ways. During your meals and conversations, lift up your heart to God sometimes. The slightest little awareness will always be very pleasant. We don’t need to shout out to do this. God is closer to us than we may think…. 

Remember, I beg you, what I recommended. Think of God often, night and day, in all your activities, even when you relax. God is always near you and with you. Don’t leave them alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you. Then why abandon God and leave them alone? Don’t forget Love. Think of God often, and love them without stopping. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the assistance of the Holy Spirit as we contemplate the action based on our situation and skills that the Lord wishes to be the seed of our transformation to be “fishers of people”.

References

Colossians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?9 

Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/5?1 

Meditation on Colossians 1:9-14. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/09/04/1373502/ 

Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/love-knows-what-we-can-do/ 

Scholer, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-4-2025 

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 4, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=sep4 

Love as Cornerstone

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, exhort us to act with love and compassion to include all people in the experience of the Love of God.

Christ, the Cornerstone

The reading from the Letter to the Ephesians declares we are One in Christ, the Cornerstone.

* [2:11–22] The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, lacked the various covenants God made with Israel, lacked hope of salvation and knowledge of the true God (Eph 2:11–12); but through Christ all these religious barriers between Jew and Gentile have been transcended (Eph 2:13–14) by the abolition of the Mosaic covenant-law (Eph 2:15) for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile into a single religious community (Eph 2:15–16), imbued with the same holy Spirit and worshiping the same Father (Eph 2:18). The Gentiles are now included in God’s household (Eph 2:19) as it arises upon the foundation of apostles assisted by those endowed with the prophetic gift (Eph 3:5), the preachers of Christ (Eph 2:20; cf. 1 Cor 12:28). With Christ as the capstone (Eph 2:20; cf. Is 28:16; Mt 21:42), they are being built into the holy temple of God’s people where the divine presence dwells (Eph 2:21–22). (Ephesians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 19 praises God’s Glory in Creation and the Law

* [Psalm 19] The heavenly elements of the world, now beautifully arranged, bespeak the power and wisdom of their creator (Ps 19:2–7). The creator’s wisdom is available to human beings in the law (Ps 19:8–11), toward which the psalmist prays to be open (Ps 19:12–14). The themes of light and speech unify the poem. (Psalms, PSALM 19 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles.

* [6:13] He chose Twelve: the identification of this group as the Twelve is a part of early Christian tradition (see 1 Cor 15:5), and in Matthew and Luke, the Twelve are associated with the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk 22:29–30; Mt 19:28). After the fall of Judas from his position among the Twelve, the need is felt on the part of the early community to reconstitute this group before the Christian mission begins at Pentecost (Acts 1:15–26). From Luke’s perspective, they are an important group who because of their association with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension (Acts 1:21–22) provide the continuity between the historical Jesus and the church of Luke’s day and who as the original eyewitnesses guarantee the fidelity of the church’s beliefs and practices to the teachings of Jesus (Lk 1:1–4). Whom he also named apostles: only Luke among the gospel writers attributes to Jesus the bestowal of the name apostles upon the Twelve. See note on Mt 10:2–4. “Apostle” becomes a technical term in early Christianity for a missionary sent out to preach the word of God. Although Luke seems to want to restrict the title to the Twelve (only in Acts 4:4, 14 are Paul and Barnabas termed apostles), other places in the New Testament show an awareness that the term was more widely applied (1 Cor 15:5–7; Gal 1:19; 1 Cor 1:1; 9:1; Rom 16:7).

* [6:14] Simon, whom he named Peter: see note on Mk 3:16.

* [6:15] Simon who was called a Zealot: the Zealots were the instigators of the First Revolt of Palestinian Jews against Rome in A.D. 66–70. Because the existence of the Zealots as a distinct group during the lifetime of Jesus is the subject of debate, the meaning of the identification of Simon as a Zealot is unclear.

* [6:16] Judas Iscariot: the name Iscariot may mean “man from Kerioth.” (Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Cynthia Schmersal offers a poetic prayer to mark the feast today. 

Lord, like Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James, whose feast we mark this day,
And like every one of Your disciples throughout history,
You claim us as Your own,
And You summon us.
You summon us to link heart, hand and aim with You and with one another to foster the inbreaking of your kin-dom here and now.

Make of us Your dwelling, built together as a communion of saints.
Make of us announcers of Your Good News and doers of Your good works.
Make of us harbingers of hope, bearers of Your Spirit in the particulars of our place and our time.

Moment by moment, free us.
Always and in all ways, free us ever more fully to proclaim – more in deed than in word – Your message to all the earth.
May all that we do and all that we are herald our identity as Your holy (and admittedly broken) people,
Members of the household of God and fellow citizens with the holy ones throughout all time.

May the ordinary and extraordinary of our lives be for Your greater Glory this day and all days. Amen. (Schmersal, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus chose fishermen and tax collectors to be apostles,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"It says, 'He called his disciples, and he chose twelve of them,' whom he appointed sowers of the faith, to spread the help of human salvation throughout the world. At the same time, observe the heavenly counsel. He chose not wise men, nor rich men, nor nobles, but fishermen and tax collectors, whom he would direct, lest they seem to have seduced some by wisdom, or bought them with riches, or attracted them to their own grace with the authority of power and nobility. He did this so that the reasoning of truth, not the grace of disputation, should prevail."(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.44) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 6:12-16 comments that as “obscure” as Simon and Jude may be, their legacy lives on. Their witness and their intercession continue to affect the lives of countless believers—and in ways neither of them probably imagined.

What’s your legacy? It’s probably a lot more than you imagine. Every one of your prayers of intercession moves the Lord. When you share your faith with someone, his Spirit works through you to touch those with open hearts. When you forgive someone, he pours out grace on that person. He fills every one of your acts of generosity and kindness with his love.

You’ll never see your complete legacy in this life. But imagine how much more you’ll see when, like Simon and Jude, you go to the Lord! So imitate these two apostles’ persistence. Trust that everything you do in Jesus’ name has eternal consequences.

“Jesus, help me to persevere in serving you, just as Simon and Jude did!” (Meditation on Luke 6:12-16, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the passage from Ephesians declares that the Gentiles are now included in the household of God. In Luke, Jesus frequently prays to the Father (11 times) as He acts on the Will of the Father. Friar Jude reminds us of some of the alternate names for the Apostles.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson who reminds Christians deciding how we want to act in the public sphere to begin with the personal experience of God’s overflowing love for the world.

Transformative change in politics depends so much on having a clear view of the desired end. Where does that vision come from? Possibilities may be offered by various ideologies, or party platforms, or political candidates. But, for the person of faith, that vision finds its roots in God’s intended and preferred future for the world. It comes not as a dogmatic blueprint but as an experiential encounter with God’s love, flowing like a river from God’s throne, nourishing trees with leaves for the healing of the nations (see Revelation 22:1–2).… 

Such a vision strikes the political pragmatist as idyllic, unrealistic, and irrelevant. But the person of faith, whose inward journey opens [their] life to the explosive love of God, knows that this vision is the most real of all. It is a glimpse of creation’s purpose and a glimmering of the Spirit’s movement amid the world’s present pain, brokenness, and despair. This vision also recognizes the inevitable journey of inward and outward transformation—the simultaneous, continuing transformation of the inward hearts of people liberated by God’s astonishing grace and the outward transformation of social and economic structures liberated by God’s standards of justice. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the paradox that arises from our experience of the power of love to make positive change in lives as we struggle against social and political changes that will reduce the well being of many.

References

Ephesians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/2? 

Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/6?12 

Meditation on Luke 6:12-16. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/10/28/1114495/ 

Psalms, PSALM 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/19?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Politics Rooted in God’s Love. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-politics-rooted-in-gods-love/ 

Schmersal, C. (2024, October 28). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/102824.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Chose Twelve Apostles. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=oct28a