Peter's Confession

Homily for Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

When I sat with the Gospel text for today, there were two things that stood out to me.

The first thing is Peter’s response to Jesus when asked to put out into the deep water and lower his nets. Peter addressed Jesus as “Master.” When I thought about this for a while, I realized that Peter had met Jesus before. Not only had Jesus preached in the synagogue of Capernaum, he had visited Peter’s home and had restored his mother-in-law to health. Calling Jesus “Master,” indicates that he not only knew Jesus, he had come to have some faith in him.

Secondly, when Peter realizes that Jesus has performed yet another miracle, his immediate response is, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” When the Pharisees called the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet a sinner, it is fairly obvious that they are labelling her as a prostitute. No one makes that kind of claim about Peter who confesses that he is a sinner. There is obviously a double standard at work here.

We are all sinners. Imagine what our lives would be like if Jesus abandoned us because we are sinners. Jesus came to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God, to reach out to the lost children of Israel. He continues to reach out to sinners in our own day.

After his experience with Jesus, he is called to be one of his disciples and told that he will bring the same message to his neighbors. He will call them to repentance and remind them of the nearness of God’s Kingdom.

Jesus calls us to be disciples and feeds us with his body and blood to nurture our discipleship.