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DEEP WATERCATCH OF FISH1. Our theme for today is about water, deep water. We’ll endeavor to reach “deep water” by way of the Vatican Museum and the masterpiece of a renown 16th century weaver. 2. In 1519 AD, from his studio in Brussels, the artist Pieter van Aelst delivered to Pope Leo X a group of tapestries. These tapestries were intended to adorn the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. One of the tapestries portrays the miraculous catch of fish, a story found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 5. VATICAN HILL3. Van Aelst, working from a sketch by the painter Raphael, used the medium of silk and wool with silver-gilt threads. The artist named his completed work "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes". This masterpiece of striking crimson and blue, about 15 feet square, was intended for display on the right side of the chapel altar. 4. Van Aelst’ work of art reveals something about the nature of the Catholic Church. The artist connected the Gospel story to the development of the papacy. In his tapestry, for example, he depicted the Vatican Hill in the panorama of the far shore. IMPORTANT SCENES5. The “action” in the tapestry reveals Simon and his companions catching an extraordinary number of fish. Their success is not an accident, of course, because the fishermen obeyed Jesus who commanded, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." [Lk 5:4] 6. Our Divine Lesson for today is called "Deep Water". Two important scenes are depicted in van Aelst’ large tapestry, each being symbolized by a boat. In the background, there is a smaller boat with three fishermen. SIMON UNDERSTANDS7. They are hauling aboard the nets filled with Simon’s great catch of fish. In the foreground, the larger boat frames the encounter between Simon and Jesus. 8. Only Simon understands that the astounding natural harvest of fish has a supernatural origin. Peter faces Jesus in the boat. He falls on his knees in humble supplication. CENTER-PIECE9. His hands are together as in prayer. He leans forward with arms extended. Simon’s face mirrors the anguish of one who knows that he is unworthy of miracles: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [Lk 5:8] 10. Of course, the encounter between Jesus and Simon is the center-piece of Luke’s gospel, chapter 5, and in the van Aelst tapestry. In order to fully appreciate this fact, we need to pay close attention to the other boat in the Miraculous Draught of Fishes. CORRECT RESPONSE11. Looking at this great work of art, it’s obvious that Peter’s companions in the smaller boat are preoccupied with the huge catch of fish. But they fail to recognize the deeper significance of this great miracle of Our Lord. 12. One might claim that Peter’s humble submission to Jesus showed that he somehow was unique, gifted, or unusually emotional. Perhaps so, but the point of Luke’s gospel is this: Peter’s correct response to Christ is the model for all Christians. MINISTRY OF GRATITUDE13. Christ is the source of everything that is good. Whether a particular event of life is ordinary or miraculous is really beside the point. Because every grace and blessing comes from Jesus Christ, all Christians need to kneel before the Lord in humble thanksgiving. 14. The Christian religion is infinitely more than the intuitive genius of motivated persons. The Son of God serves his father by his ministry of gratitude and praise. We are to serve Christ in the same way: "Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more." [Lk 12:48] FINE LINE15. Unfortunately, many persons have forgotten what it means to thank God in a meaningful way. They assume that the blessings and graces they receive in life are a result of anything but God: human powers, cleverness, money, persuasion, education, inventiveness, or even blind luck. 16. There’s a fine line between wrong ideas and lies. The notion that a person can control everything if he’s clever and works hard enough—isn't this a wrong idea? When does a wrong idea become a lie? Only when a person admits it? INTERIOR POVERTY17. So many of us have forgotten humility. Maybe we’ve never learned how to express our gratitude to the Almighty. Numbed by the wealth of information and experiences available to us from the outside, we fail to recognize our terrible poverty on the inside. 18. Why can’t we summon our will to act for the sake of our God? Do we have to be perfect before we think about God through the day and in the little things of life? If we love our children, why don’t we love God more? If we love human life and liberty, why don’t we love God more? If we value redemption and a chance for a new life, why don't we love God more Why aren't we consumed with love for him? FOUND EVERY DAY19. I pray incessantly that many more men and women will grow to realize that gratitude leads the Body of Christ to praise and glorify God. If we truly, I mean truly understood gratitude as our response to God’s love, we’d be found every day celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in our parish Churches. Not even a tractor could pull us away! 20. We've all received blessings upon blessings from God, a harvest that far exceeds the fisherman’s catch. But who among us will lay aside the nets long enough to lead others in prayer and thank the Lord for what he alone has accomplished? BANKRUPT FAITH21. In too many Christian households, religion is the big, dark family secret. They chain their faith to the bedpost and starve it. They rattle on about how a fellow’s faith is nobody else’s business, but their faith is bankrupt. They talk about worshipping God in the great outdoors, but their faith is buried in an unmarked grave. 22. They go to Church when someone’s getting married. They go to Church if someone died. When will they go to Church for God? When will they listen to him? “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’”, says Jesus Christ, “and not do what I tell you?” [Lk 6:46] "COMMUNION" CATHOLICS23. We may not know for years, if ever, that a neighbor or co-worker is a Christian. Years pass, and we haven’t prayed with anyone in our own family. This don’t touch me attitude is true for a large number of professed Christians. If you hide your faith, how are you going to find it when you need it? And you will need it. 24. An embarrassing number of Catholics are "communion" Catholics. They go to Church occasionally. They go when they feel like it. Restless and sentimental, they go to Church looking for a kind of spiritual entertainment, something that imitates the world. Or they go away from a Church they judge as boring and beneath them. ONLY A SUNSET25. I’m speaking of fundamentally decent people who are walking dangerously close to the line that separates wrong ideas from outright lies. What’s their response to God’s commandment, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”? [Exo 20:8] I’ll think about it. What’s God done for me? For such people, God is only a sunset, a dying light, a glimmer of childish nostalgia. 26. If one is unable or unwilling to thank God in God’s own temple, then to whom does one give thanks? How can a husband say of his spouse, I give myself thanks for my wife? How can a mother say of her children, I thank myself for my children? Or a worker, I thank myself for my promotion? FAVORITE RECLINER27. There can only be one Master of the Universe. Yet, so many persons think they’re it. If you’re a legend in your own mind, and everybody else should bow down to you or get out of the way, why don’t you put your ideas to the test? 28. Find yourself a chair, your favorite recliner.[1] Get four to six members of your fan club to carry you to the seashore at low tide. On the beach at water’s edge, command the wind and waves not to come in and soak you. If you come away dry, you are Master of the Universe. Let the world applaud in amazement. KNEEL DOWN29. But if you come away drenched, then get out of your chair. Kneel down right there in the sand before God Almighty who made you. And ask him for his mercy and forgiveness! Say to him, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [Lk 5:8] 30. When Saint Peter said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [Lk 5:8], he didn’t mean it literally. He saw the miraculous catch of fish. He knew where the miracle came from. Peter meant that he was unworthy of Christ. He wanted Jesus to stay. He knew that he needed Jesus desperately. "CATCHER OF SOULS"31. The miracle came from Christ—not from human powers, or cleverness, or money, or persuasion, or education, or inventiveness, or blind luck. The miracle came from the Holy One of God. And Blessed Peter realized something else, too. 32. Somehow, he understood that God’s Kingdom is itself a miracle, a stream of miracles, a river of miracles, an ocean of miracles, a never-ending procession of miracles. How he wanted this more than life itself! The great miracle in Peter’s life was, of course, his transformation from a catcher of fish to a "catcher of souls". He gave his consent to become the Lord’s premier instrument of the gospel of Divine Mercy. FAITH AND REASON33. Simon Peter knew that his crew worked hard all night and had caught nothing. He knew they gave up at dawn and came to shore on the Sea of Galilee. Now when Jesus said, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." [Lk 5:4], Simon could have said, I’ll think about it, or What have you done for me? He answered instead, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." [Lk 5:5] 34. If you’re looking for the Kingdom of God, you’re not going to find directions in the labyrinth of secular culture or in any of its countless dead-ends. You’re going to find directions to the Kingdom of God in the Divine Revelation entrusted to the Church by Jesus Christ himself. The test of faith is not in the play-house of childish imagination, but rather is to be found at the cross-roads of human faith and reason—the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church”. [SACRAMENTARY “Profession of Faith” Nicene Creed p. 368] FOUNDING PRINCIPLE35. Jesus said to the apostles, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” [Mt 28:18] Each one of the Ten Commandments, and each one of the nine Beatitudes is a sign-post pointing the way. Christians are set apart from the world, even as they live in it and seek to reform it. 36. This is a founding principle of our religion. Christians are to “make disciples of all nations” [Mt 28:19], not to become the press agents for all nations. “(Teach) them to observe all that I have commanded you”, says the Lord. [Mt 28:20] GOSPEL EVANGELIST37. We offer to the world the pure “living water” from the Lord’s spring of eternal life. [cf. Jn 4:14] There can be no contamination of this living water, for a spring cannot “pour forth from the same opening (both) fresh water and brackish”. [Jas 3:11] Therefore, a Christian is not to serve secular culture as its prophet, but rather preach the gospel forcefully in the cultural market-place as its evangelist:
38. Trusting Our Lord, Peter put out into deep water. [cf. Lk 5:4] In somewhat the same way, Pieter Van Aelst’ artful tapestry draws us into a deeper reflection of Luke’s miracle story. We move beyond the fishermen’s wild joy over the great catch. BOAT OF PETER39. Underneath Peter’s sorrowful confession of personal sin is the experience of fear. Jesus knows what is in the heart of this humble fisherman. He recognizes Peter’s fear of the unknown: "Do not be afraid," he says. [Lk 5:10] 40. From its earliest days, the Church was christened the Barque, that is to say, the Boat of Peter. To leave the safety of the shoreline and put out into deep water takes courage, especially on the advice of a young rabbi whom one has just met. The inscrutable power of the sea teaches us that human beings are not the Master of the Universe. Moreover, human institutions are not the Kingdom of God. THREE LARGE CRANES41. Pieter van Aelst reveals in his majestic tapestry how the kingdom of man is opposed to the Kingdom of God. He beautifully illustrates the point with two very different species of birds. 42. In the foreground of his tapestry are three large cranes. Cranes are tall graceful birds. They stalk about in marshes or on plains. Regal in bearing, they exemplify constancy and vigilance. That there are three suggests the presence of the Holy Trinity. VORACIOUS BIRDS43. In the background of the tapestry, however, are sea gulls representing sin and apostasy. Gulls are voracious birds. They don’t care whether they eat fresh food or road-kill. They devour the nestlings of other birds. 44. Gulls scavenge for garbage and eat the eggs and chicks of their own species. They fight bitterly among themselves, robbing each other at every opportunity. Human beings are like gulls or cranes. "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" tapestry speaks eloquently of the choice mankind must make and the absolute seriousness of Christian discipleship. "NEW NATURE"45. We may think of cranes and gulls in what St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
To become a follower of Christ, one must be initiated into His body, the Church. In the van Aelst tapestry, Jesus stretches out his hand to Peter and to all who would follow him. 46. In the tapestry, our Saviour seems to echo Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel poised to inherit the Promised Land: "Choose this day whom you will serve." [Josh 24:15] Therefore, the words in Peter’s open mouth would be: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." [Josh 24:15] TRAWLER OR BARQUE47. The Word of God says that mankind's fate is that of fish taken in a net. [cf. Ecc 9:12, Hab 1:14-15] Well, there are only two fishing companies working the ocean of human souls until the end of time. 48. As little fishes, we may be taken by one or the other. We can be gulled, trapped and hauled into the devil’s trawler, or be saved from the surging sea of time and space by the Barque of Peter. PRESENT FREEDOM49. It is no accident that Catholics kneel and echo the words of St. Peter at every celebration of the Mass: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." [SACRAMENTARY "Communion Rite" (1985)] 50. Christ Jesus, by blessing our future and healing our past, bestows a freedom in the present that the world cannot give. Indeed God’s blessings are set aside already for us that we may be enticed to live a graced existence. "BIRTH IN THIS STREAM"51. Baptism is the bath of man's regeneration. Baptism invites our return to the virginity of human personhood. Abused by Adam and Eve in paradise [cf. Gen 2:25, 3:8a], virginity is exemplified in the joyful, grace-filled life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 52. From the fifth century, the words of the baptistery inscription of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome echo today, in our hearing: "Children of the water, think no more of earth; heaven will give you joy; in heaven hope. Think not your sins too many or too great: birth in this stream is birth to holiness."
[1] Clifton Fadiman, ed., THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES (Boston: Little, Brown, 1985) 100. A story told of Canute, the Danish king of England (1016-1035), who wearied of his retainers’ unceasing flattery. Having proved his point by being submerged in the tide, Canute hung his crown on a statue of the crucified Christ and never wore it again.
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