Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Blessed Theresa of Calcutta
Col 1: 9-14; Luke 5: 1-11
Dc. Larry Brockman
An “aha” experience! That’s what happened to the Apostles in this morning’s Gospel.
Picture the scene again in your mind. You wake up early in the morning to go to work, just like any other day. You work hard as a Fisherman most of the early morning hours,but catch absolutely nothing. And then, this stranger asks you to pull your boat out again. You are weary- but decide to be nice and comply. So out you go. This stranger uses your boat to preach to a crowd. You listen, but you are a fisherman; you’re not looking for something new. When he finishes, he asks you to lower your nets. Now you are cynical, thinking- “Like yeah, I’ve fished all night and nothing; and now this preacher wants me to try again.” Only before you know it, the nets are heavy with fish. This is something special; this is extraordinary! This man must be special and maybe I should listen to him. You have had an “aha” experience. And your life will never be the same.
You see, God called these simple fishermen to a different life. Granted, it was a loud, unmistakable call rather than a quiet, soft nudge. But they left everything right there, and followed Jesus. They didn’t have to, you know. They could have reveled in the wealth of fish they had just caught, and said, “Thank you sir, but we’ve got to get these fish to market.” That would have meant they were into doing their own. They didn’t do that though; they dropped everything and followed Jesus.
Fast forward 2000 years now to another incident. It is another kind of calling, but an “aha” experience none the less. A nun is travelling on a train in India in 1946. More than a decade earlier she had devoted her life to teaching as a nun. But a quiet little voice inside tells her that she should drop everything and go out into the streets and minister to the poor. She could have gone on with life as well. After all, she was already living a life of service. But, she regarded the message of the little voice as an order, not a request. We know her as Mother Theresa. And Blessed Mother Theresa’s feast day is today.
During the course of our lives, we will hear loud voices and soft voices and everything in between calling us, begging for our attention. They could be the voice of God. They could be our “aha” experience.
The darnedest thing about these aha experiences is that they will come at the most inconvenient times. They come when we are busy and just can’t afford to listen; they come when we have finally just gotten the opportunity to relax; and they even come via people we would rather not have anything to do with. That’s the way God works because he wants us to stretch for him, to drop everything and follow. They come at various stages of life because we are always being called to grow, no matter how much growth we have already had!
And so, be on the lookout for these calls. They aren’t necessarily life changing experiences like they were for the Apostles and Mother Theresa. Most of them are less dramatic than that. They are nudges toward God’s will for us- an inclination to help a stranger in need; a sudden impulse to do something special- like attend an Emmaus retreat or visit the Perpetual Adoration Chapel. But they are rich opportunities to get to know the Lord. And they are sources of pure joy for those who respond to them.
If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.
