Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: This is Sundays with Bishop Ken.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord today. Our guest reader is Fr.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Burt Gome, a senior priest from the diocese of Saginaw in Michigan.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: Father Burt was a priest in the.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Diocese when Bishop Ken was its shepherdess.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: A reading from the holy gospel according to John.
Many of Jesus disciples who were listening said, this saying is hard.
Who can accept it?
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life, but there are some of you who do not believe.
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.
And he said, for this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my father.
As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the twelve, do you also want to leave?
Simon Peter answered him, master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the holy one of God.
The gospel of the Lord.
That's quite a remarkable statement by Peter.
The more you think about it, the more you appreciate what a statement it is.
Let's consider a few questions.
First, what was Peter's line of work before he became a disciple of Jesus?
He was a fisherman.
Now, it wasn't as though Peter was a peasant who had a line and a hook, caught a couple of fish every day and sold them for whatever he could get.
Peter, along with three partners, owned a fishing business.
They own boats and nets and equipment.
Which leads to the next question.
Can you name two of Peter's three partners?
If you name two of these three partners, Andrew, his brother, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. You were correct.
Do you remember the passage when Jesus called Peter and his brother Andrew as they were casting their nets into the sea?
After preaching on the shore, Jesus got into Peter's boat and told him to put out into deep water and lower the nets.
Peter tells him they've been working all night and the fish aren't running. But if Jesus insists, he'll do it.
So he goes out and lowers the nets.
Here's how it reads from there.
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.
They came and filled both boats so they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, depart from me, lord, for I am a sinful man.
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him. And likewise, James and John, the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon.
So in today's gospel passage, when Jesus asks the twelve if they want to leave him, too, and Peter steps forward to answer that question, in effect, Peter says to Jesus, you have the words that make sense, the way of life, that makes sense.
We're with you even if others walk away.
But there's more to it than that. In this section of John's gospel, Jesus says interesting things about the fact that it is the father that draws people to him.
Listen to these three statements Jesus made at different times in this section.
[00:04:53] Speaker D: No one can come to me unless.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: The father who sent me draws them.
Everyone who listens to my father and learns from him comes to me.
[00:05:05] Speaker D: No one can come to me unless.
[00:05:08] Speaker C: It is granted them by my father.
Becoming a disciple of the Lord is more than something we can calculate on a computer, more than something we can find on the Internet, more than something we can add up on a balance sheet.
We are dealing here with God, who is way more than the whole universe can hold, way more than something we can put into words.
It is something deep down inside of us, put there by God.
What drew Peter and his partners to Jesus was something inside them.
[00:05:48] Speaker D: No one can come to me unless.
[00:05:50] Speaker C: The father who sent me draws them.
We aren't consumers who pick up a product.
We're disciples, chosen by God, drawn to the Lord by God, called by God.
We need to get in touch with what it means to be disciples. We need to sense it, experience it, and respond to it.
There are bound to be doubts along the way. You can't have a brain and not have doubts because a brain can't hold the truths we believe.
But the question we need to ask is, am I drawn to the Lord by God?
Is there something inside me pulling me in this direction?
Am I called to this?
There are indicators that we are.
Most of us were baptized into this before we even knew what was happening.
We were born into this time and place.
We were set in this direction by people who were part of our lives.
There is also something here far greater than eye has seen or ear has heard.
We use our reason.
We use our feelings. But most of all, we open up ourselves to God's initiative, and we respond to it. It is a call from God.
Am I called?
That is the only question. And if I am called, then there are only two possible answers, yes or no.
We answer yes with every amen we say at mass.
I invite all of us to sense the wonder of it all, to realize that we have not simply made a consumer decision.
We have been called by God.
And the call is so strong that we turn to Jesus and say, with Peter and his partners and the rest of the twelve, Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the holy one of God.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us today. If you like this week's reflection, subscribe.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: On your favorite podcast platform for daily.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: Reflections during the seasons of Advent, Christmas.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Lent, and Easter, subscribe to the Little Books app found on the Apple or Google Play Stores. The podcast is brought to you free of charge from little books.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: To help support our ministry, please consider.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: Donating by clicking on the donate button now.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: And of course, why not tell a.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: Friend about this podcast?
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Sundays with Bishop Ken is produced by Little Books of the Diocese of Saginaw. For more about little books and great resources for the whole family, visit littlebooks.org dot.
