Do you know Jesus? Homily for Thursday, September 4, 2025

Do you know Jesus? Or do you just know about Jesus? Peter learns in today’s gospel that not only does Jesus know him, he loves him. And he calls him to do great things for him. Readings for Today.

Table of Contents

Do you know Jesus?

This is the story we get, rather, from the Gospel according to Luke, is early in the Gospel. So we could assume that while they have tagged along with Jesus, they haven’t really yet gotten to know him well enough. Obviously they see in him, I would suspect, a good teacher because they immediately accede to, or Simon Peter does, accede to his request to put the boat out a little bit because of the crowd so he can teach. He rather then goes on and teaches.

And I can only imagine that moment when Jesus says to Simon, “Oh just put your boat out a little farther and drop the nets.” Jesus is a carpenter. What does he know about fishing? Moreover, these were fishermen. They knew what they were doing. It’s not like they didn’t know to put their nets out and catch fish. It’s what they did.

But they had enough trust in Jesus that they would do it. Maybe they thought that it was a novelty and Jesus just wanted to see them fish or something like that. But the end result touches the heart of Peter. And all of them, in fact, were told. When they put these nets out after a long period of fishing, they realize that this is not just about fishing. It’s about something else.

In our own lives, I think there are moments where God can come crashing into our life like that. Sometimes they’re even very ordinary events, which in many ways this was. How many times have they cast nets into the sea? How many times have they done this exact same thing? But when they became close to Jesus and had this experience with Him, miraculous things happen and they see it for what it is.

I have to say that when I was in the seminary, I had a very profound and powerful experience of God while I was brushing my teeth and looking in the mirror. Highly ordinary. But I was overcome with a powerful sense at that moment that I was loved by God more than I could understand.

It’s an experience that has shaped really everything since that moment. I wonder how much Peter went back to this moment when he continued to sin, as we presume he did. Now maybe he was so converted he didn’t, and saw in Jesus something powerful, a reminder that he was loved more than he could know or imagine. And so if you hear Jesus telling you to put out the nets for a catch, you might just want to listen.

Do you know Jesus? — Photo by Vietnamese Private Tours on Pexels.com

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