“And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him.”

Like many fishermen of the time, Peter and his crew would have spent the night using a huge seine net to drag the waters of the Lake of Gennesaret, hoping to encircle and catch fish. It was hard work.

But, by morning, it was clear all the crew’s efforts had been in vain. Peter must have been exhausted and discouraged as he and his men mended and washed their net and stowed away their gear. Imagine his astonishment when Jesus, pressed by the crowds, climbed into his boat and asked Peter to put out into the water again. All Peter wanted to do was call it quits for the day. But, instead, He mustered the willpower to heed Jesus’ words.

We don’t know what Jesus said to the crowd, but we do know that, when He finished preaching, He turned to Peter and said, ”Push out into the deep water and let down your nets” for a catch.

Now Jesus was a carpenter and preacher. What did he know about fishing?  Peter was the one who fished for a living. Yet, once again, Peter set aside his misgivings.

“Master,” he said, “we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net.”

He called his incredulous crew together and they got back into the boat and started rowing again. Do you suppose that some of them grumbled to themselves as they put their backs to the oars? Do you wonder what you would have thought under the same circumstances?

Well, jesus says the same thing to each one of us when we feel downcast and discouraged: Get back in the boat and push out into deeper water.

When bad news rocks our boat, and we feel as though we are toiling in vain, Jesus tells us to, “Push out into the deep water.”

When a long-term relationship hits a rough patch, and we’re about to scuttle it, He says, “Push out into the deep water.”

When things at work become stormy and we’re feeling tempest tossed, He says, “Push out into the deep water.”

Time and again, we might find ourselves asking “How much deeper must I go, Lord?” Time and again, He says, “Go deeper,” deeper in our prayer life.

With the passing years, we come to realize that the safety of the shoreline is an illusion. We have to push past the reefs, the shoals and breakers that threaten to dash our hopes. We have to set our doubts aside and head for the deeper, calmer waters that lie just beyond the horizon. We have to have faith in our loving and provident Father. We have to push out into the deep just as Peter did.

In today’s Gospel, Peter’s faith was rewarded by a catch that was so great it threatened to break his net. He had to call to other fishermen for help. Such blessings don’t come easy. Fish don’t jump into the boat. You have to push out into deeper waters and let down your net.