February 8, 2004 Daily Prayer with Regnum Christi




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For those who are seeking employment, so that Christ may grant them his peace and help them to find stable and dignified work.





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Trust and the Purifying Presence of Christ



February 8, 2004
Sunday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary time

Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." 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 to help them. They came and filled both boats so that 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 of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you. I believe you are calling me to be your apostle. I know that the obstacles holding me back are pride and self-love. As I look into your eyes and see the love you have for me I feel the urge to say with Peter, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.” May this experience of my own brokenness lead me to an absolute, loving trust in you, and be the beginning of a new life of saving souls for you.

Petition: Lord, allow me to trust wholeheartedly in you, so that you can purify me and make me worthy to be your apostle.

1. “We worked hard all night long and caught nothing” Peter and the others were exhausted. Hour by hour they had labored in the silence of the night, but with little to show for their toil. Don’t we often feel the same way? We work hard in the different areas of our lives – in our plans, our relationships, our efforts to spread the faith, our own holiness – but often with meager results to show for it. Perhaps, like Peter, we work hard, but we do so during the night; that is, without Christ in our boat, without trusting in him, without his grace and forgiveness. We need to come to the light of day, to Christ himself, so that grace will be at work in our lives.

2. “When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus…” All that Simon labored to achieve throughout the night, Christ achieved in the twinkle of an eye. Peter had been trusting in himself, in his own talent and abilities, to bring about the catch. Christ appeared when all human effort was utterly spent and proven useless, to send us a message. We must fall on our knees in our heart and recognize our need for grace. By recognizing our need for grace we empty ourselves of our self-sufficiency, allowing Christ to come in and transform our lives. The sooner we confess that there is nothing good within us without him, the sooner his grace can flow in our lives.

3. “Leave me, Lord I am a sinful man.” Peter experiences an intimate desire to be made worthy of the presence of Christ. Although fearing the purifying power of God, he simultaneously feels irresistibly drawn to him and begins to taste the joy and peace that come to the soul together with him. Pope John Paul II offers a beautiful description of these conflicting emotions of the soul that is drawing close to Christ: “The path to God does not consist in observing the commandments only but also in profound purification of the soul from attachment to sin, concupiscence and passions…. But such purification sometimes is costly to man: it is linked with grief and suffering, but it is indispensable, since the soul has to preserve what is noble, honest and pure in itself…. Man is afraid of the purifying power of God and of his grace…. The desire for salvation, that is, of the life of God’s grace, ought to overcome the fear with which man defends himself from God’s purifying power. As the evil rooted in the soul yields little by little, and sinful attachments are weakened, God comes closer, and joy and peace come to the soul together with him.”

Dialogue with Christ: Lord, leave me, for I am a sinful man. I acknowledge my failings and experience my deep need for purification and forgiveness. Although I often fear your purifying presence, I feel even more powerfully an irresistible attraction to your love. Purify me, Lord, so that I will be made worthy of loving and serving you.

Resolution: I will repeat the words, “Lord, have mercy on me” today with total trust and the greatest love for Christ.


By Father Patrick Murphy, LC

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