22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-7-23, Year A
Readings: First Reading Col 1:14; Ps 98:2-6; Gospel Lk 5:1-11
Theme: Being Transformed and Wanting More
Have you ever seen a picture, the kind that displays an obvious common scene at first glance, but when studied more closely reveals an entirely different and more powerful scene hidden within it? We can walk by a picture all day long and only see the common image it portrays, not thinking a thing about it. Then one day, a friend draws our attention to something within that picture that we never saw before, and we discover the hidden image within it, and it shocks us. From that point on all we ever see in that common, everyday picture is the mysterious and wonderful image it portrays hidden within all the shapes, colors, and lines.
This newly found image transforms and changes how we interpret it as it sheds new light on what we once thought was just a common everyday picture. I love that moment at which we discover something truly wonderful and moving in an otherwise ordinary person, place, or thing. It transforms us and leaves us wanting more.
This is just one of many examples of living a life unaware, especially when it comes to how God interacts in our lives. When we do not take the time to understand, mediate on, or seek out that which is hidden, we can lose out on the real message meant for us.
The people of Colossae were doing just that, living a life unaware until St. Paul came along. In their everyday life, they did not see the hidden interactions of God in their lives. It took St. Paul, through the Holy Gospel, to reveal the living God in Jesus Christ to them and how Jesus sheds light on all they do. Once they understood this, they began to see Jesus, what He had accomplished in them, and the graces He bestowed on them. From that point forward, they saw nothing else other than Jesus Himself working in their lives. They were transformed and they wanted more.
Simon and his brother, Andrew, along with James and John, lived a common, everyday life of fishing, selling, and bartering. It was the routine life of a fisherman, catching ordinary fish, in ordinary amounts with ordinary income. But when Jesus showed them the hidden value of a life of fishing (not that of fish but of men), the hidden meaning in what they were doing was revealed to them; it transformed them, and they wanted more.
They wanted more so much that they gave up everything they had, left it all on the shore, and followed Jesus. They were no longer fishers of common fish, but of men, and they were given a wide net to cast and gather as many people to Christ as they could, even to the point of persecution and death for His sake.
As we move through our lives, we should take time to look at the seemingly ordinary, common, everyday things and try to see the hidden meaning in them. Sometimes we need someone or something to help point them out to us. By reading the Bible, and other spiritual works, attending Mass, listening to the readings, and hearing the priests speak to us about them, we can begin to see the hidden meaning of God’s call and what He asks of us.
So, look beyond the common everyday things in your spiritual life, and discover God’s hidden meaning in them, and it will transform you and leave you wanting more.
Saint James Catholic Church 