Fr. Paul Campbell’s article for Feb. 8

Is 6: 1-2a, 3-8                                    1Cor 15: 1-11                        Lk 5: 1-11

Did you ever have one of those days when you said, “If that phone rings one more time I’ll scream?”  If you have then you know what happens right after you make that statement.  The phone rings.  At that moment we can choose to answer or do the civilized equivalent of pulling the cord out of the wall, let the call go to the answering machine.  If you have been in that situation, then today’s scripture readings are for you.  In Luke’s gospel Jesus is sitting in a boat just offshore and is preaching to the people.  When he had finished speaking He asked Peter to go out into deeper water and to lower his fishing nets for a catch.  That moment was Peter’s equivalent of the phone ringing one more time.  You see Peter was a commercial fisherman.  He knew his trade well and was successful.  Although a disciple he still had to earn a living.   He had spent the entire night fishing and had not caught anything.  Pulling commercial fishing nets is a very tiring occupation.  At that moment Jesus asked him to do it one more time.  Can you imagine what went through Peter’s mind?  He knew Jesus and believed that Jesus was a good preacher.  He knew that Jesus was good to hang around with at wedding feasts.  He was even a pretty good carpenter.  But he wasn’t a commercial fisherman.  He didn’t know what he was talking about.  The sun was up now.  The fish were gone and it was a waste of time.  Yet he put out his nets and a miracle happened. Luke tells us “When they had lowered the nets, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing”.  Because Peter was willing to listen to Jesus something happened that was beyond Peter’s greatest expectations.  What are the conditions that are needed for a miracle to take place in our lives?  As I said at the beginning the opportunity for miracles occurs when we are at the end our rope.  It is precisely at the moment when we say we can no longer continue that we then ask for help. We realize our limitations and the necessity of God’s grace in life. As an aside you should know that the saints asked for God’s help each day upon rising and frequently during the day because they were aware of their complete dependence on  grace.  For the rest of us, like Peter we feel we know enough and don’t need anyone offering us advice or direction.  Miracles can occur if we admit to ourselves that we need the insights of others not just those who have more degrees.  The second condition for a miracle is to keep trying.  Peter could have told Jesus to forget it, but he didn’t.  Someone once said that for most people the disaster of life is that they give up just one effort too soon.  A young man once told me that if you want to increase your success rate you have to double your failure rate.  I wonder how many of us give up on prayer because we don’t think we are successful.  Miracles come from the places you would least expect.  Don’t disregard another human being because you are older, younger, brighter or more qualified.  Once you begin to see God’s miraculous hand in the daily events of your life there is still one more condition.  You have to go forth and show others God’s love.  Both Isaiah and Peter experienced God in the midst of their sinfulness and were compelled to say “Here I am, send me” and leave everything and follow God.  Miracles happen all the time.  They change our lives and the lives of others. So pick up the phone, it might be God.