5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners,

The Oxford dictionary of the English language defines “integrity” as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles and uprightness,” and is “the state of being whole and undivided.” I think anyone with any self-respect would want to be a person of integrity or at least strive to be so. It goes without saying that a follower of Jesus who is brutally honest with himself/ herself would embrace integrity as his/her way of life and try to avoid going back and forth from being whole and undivided to fragmented and split. Our patron saint, Peter, in the gospel this weekend, shows a bit of going back and forth by readily obeying Jesus’ “command,” as Peter puts it, but then tells, not asks, Jesus to depart, to leave him because of his sinfulness. Peter is certainly being honest about himself with Jesus, but Jesus already knows, as the Son of God, this fisherman Peter through and through yet still favors and blesses him with two overflowing boatloads of fish, and thus, a sizeable monetary profit. Jesus then responds to Peter by telling him not to be afraid and that he will be catching people, not fish, from then on. At this point, Peter, along with his brother Andrew and their business partners, James and John, make a decision for integrity and strive for “the state of being whole and undivided” in their rather instantaneous abandonment of their nets and boats to follow the Source of the miracle they just witnessed. What is our response to Jesus’ invitation to us as far as following Him, who knows us through and through and our strengths and weaknesses too? Following Him starts with leaving the things in our lives that keep us from His presence, just as these four fishermen did. Doing this was risky, but soon they found out that they had made the right decision. They sought integrity, wholeness, and uprightness with undivided hearts. We can do that in our lives too. Peter was married, possibly had children, had a job, while Andrew, James, and John were also employed full-time. They are not so different from us except that they lived at a different time. Yet striving for integrity is a timeless goal--no matter who we are, what we do, our age or our health, wealth, or marital status. Let us follow His call.