The Calling of St. Peter, Philippe de Champaigne undated, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”   Luke 5:8.

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There is a bit of a tradition in England that men who deal with fish are renowned for their foul language. Its source, it is said, comes from the Billingsgate Fish Market which used to be in the Pool of London, which is to say the part of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. The market has since been moved downriver, but the rather splendid building remains. It has fish finials on the roof!

Old Billingsgate Fish Market, London.

I say this not to insult the good workers of the fish market, but rather to suggest a clearer picture than painted in today’s gospel. A holy man, Jesus, happened upon a bunch of fishermen who were cleaning their nets. There was such a crowd following Jesus that he asked, no doubt politely, if he could borrow one of their fishing boats, pull out a little from the shore so that he could address the people in a way they could see and hear him. No doubt with a nonchalant shrug, Peter agreed, and presumably continued his net cleaning. Afterwards this holy man suggested to Simon, Peter’s birth name (Jesus was to give him his new name later), that he pull out into deep water and let down his nets down once more. He was then told that the fishermen had been laboring all night long and had caught nothing. Now consider: Simon Peter was exhausted, no doubt dog-tired, angry, disappointed and had nothing to show for all his work. Here was this holy man telling him to pull out once more. Today’s gospel has the fisherman’s response as “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” Bear that response in mind and consider this. In early 19th century England there was a good country doctor, Dr. Thomas Bowdler, who lived near Bath in the West Country. He decided he would publish the works of Shakespeare with all the dirty bits removed, which, as he said, would allow “a father to read aloud to his family without fear of offending their susceptibilities or corrupting their minds.” Hence the verb “to bowdlerize” entered the language. I say this to suggest that today’s gospel has been subjected to just such an exercise. Put yourself into the wet, cold slippers of this exhausted fisherman cleaning his nets with which he had caught nothing all night long. Now tell me, in all honesty, what would YOU have said to the holy man (who probably knew nothing about fishing) if he told you to go out and cast your nets again? I can’t prove it, but I smell bowdlerization at work here. It certainly makes Peter’s exclamation to the Lord when he returned, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” much more understandable (look at the painting above). But clearly Peter, for all his gruffness, saw in Jesus something very special to go ahead and do what Jesus suggested. He must have sensed here the presence of the real thing, as it were. And afterwards he dropped everything to follow this wonderful man! And so, in many ways, have we. Here is someone who has changed peoples’ whole lives, possibly beginning with St. Peter himself. We Christians in our heart of hearts know how we should respond to life’s dramas and problems. We might, or might not do what we know we should do, and thereafter we might scourge ourselves with remorse. Guilt is not unknown in Christian circles. All this because we try to model ourselves on the way Jesus would deal with every situation, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. 

Now look at today’s first reading, from Isaiah: Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” I fear many of us could identify with that man. In his case, the reading continues, “…one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” This person was cleansed by God, and in a way it parallels Peter’s experience at Lake Gennesaret (another name for Lake Tiberias or, more commonly, the Sea of Galilee). Jesus’ response to Peter’s almost certain declaration as to what Jesus could do with his suggestion and where and how he could do it, aligns with Isaiah’s plea for forgiveness as a person of unclean lips. In asking Jesus to leave him because of his almost certain bad behavior, Simon Peter was greeted instead with Jesus’ total acceptance of him, his utter forgiveness, and bestowing on him his new vocation, to be a fisher of all who would listen to him and follow the Lord, as indeed he did now do.

Today’s second reading talks of an even more dramatic conversion to serve the Lord. Paul, who, as Saul, had set out to destroy the infant Christian communities in Jerusalem and Damascus (and almost succeeded) was approached by Jesus in an even more dramatic way, leading to a complete about turn and preach the Good News instead of destroying it. Does this mean that Jesus seeks us out in the same way, to overwhelm us with an incredible experience? Well, perhaps, but it is more likely with a still small voice, just as the prophet Elijah heard but in dramatic circumstances. Perhaps the lesson is that we should always be aware of the possibility of the Lord speaking through major life dramas, or in the still small voice of those more frequent moments when we can reflect on how good a servant of the Lord we have been, and promise better in the future, or give thanks for the guidance and the satisfaction of doing one’s best. No matter which one it is, as we can see from today’s lesson, we are always accepted and loved. 

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