Put out into deep water. Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.

Fishing all night, the disciples catch nothing. In obedience to the word of the Lord, they let out the nets and have an abundant catch. But see what happens next. Simon Peter falls to his knees and says to Jesus, “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” This is a common theme running through today’s three readings, and that is the sense of sinfulness and unworthiness. Simon says, “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” The prophet Isaiah says, “What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts.” And likewise, Paul says, “I am the least of the apostles.”