In today’s Gospel passage for
Mass (Luke 5:1-11), Jesus calls Peter to be the first of his apostles. Peter,
the fisherman: uneducated, poor, living a life of hard labor, and, by his own
admission, a sinner. When he realized that he was in the presence of a great
and holy man (the Gospel doesn’t tell us exactly what Peter thought of Jesus),
he fell to his knees and cried out, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful
man.” But Jesus didn’t depart. He had great love for the sinful man—great love
for us sinners, as well—and he called him to become a member of his company.
Little did Peter know at that
moment just how great was his destiny. Little did he know what he would be
learning by following Jesus. Little did he know how he would be put to the test
many times over the next three years. Little did he know how serious would be
the sins he would commit even though he had been close to the Lord and tried to
follow him.
And again, faced with a great
sinner—one who had actually denied that he even knew Jesus, Jesus never rebukes
him. Instead, he speaks of love: “Do you love me?” he asks Peter three times.
(John 21:15-21)
So understand this: Your sin
does not drive Jesus away, it brings him closer to you. Your sin does not cut
you off from his love: in fact his love is even greater. Your sin doesn’t mean
that you don’t love Jesus, either. Your failure doesn’t betray that love. And
over and above all the sins you may have committed, no matter how despicable
they may be—over and above all of that are the extended arms of Jesus ready to
embrace you, to forgive you, and perhaps even challenge you to pick yourself up
and follow him again. And despite all of your unworthiness, no matter how it is
that you find yourself unworthy, he may want to use you to do great things in
this world.
Peter cries, “Depart from me,
Lord.” The Gospel—the Good News—is that he will not depart from you, no
matter what. Cling to that hope.
God bless you.
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