Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time. Year II (Pope St Gregory the Great). I Cor.3:18-23; Luke 5:1-11
Have you heard the statement, “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire?” I have. The story is told of two men who took a boat and rowed across the river to go drinking. When they had drunk alcohol to stupor, they came back to their boat, got in, and began rowing furiously, suddenly in a hurry to get back home. When it was morning, and they were a bit sober, they realised they had been rowing on one spot. In their drunken state, they had not remembered to untie their boat…
Friends, just as hard work does not necessarily guarantee progress and riches, so our human efforts do not automatically guarantee salvation. St Paul says that “there is nothing to boast about in anything human.” In the Gospel, though Simon and his companions were professional fishermen, they caught nothing all night, until Jesus intervened. Pope St Gregory the Great clearly understood this. Why else would he abandon his lucrative position in public service for the Monastery? Made Pope on Sept. 3, 590, he was a true pastor, with love for the poor and an outstanding preacher. We too must rely on God to make a catch, for without Him, all human toil is vain.
God bless your day ahead. St Gregory the Great, pray for Us!
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