Peter And The Great Catch
Miraculous Draught of Fish: Alexandre~Gabriel Decamps
In the scene of today's Gospel (Luke 5:1~11) I am drawn to Peter and his reaction to Jesus' advice to cast out into the deep. His knowledge and experience of his trade tell him that there is no point in going back out there to try yet again, but yet he does it anyway. I often wonder if in those brief moments along the shore of Lake Genesareth, Jesus looked at Peter and said to Himself, "He's the one who will lead my Church." This rough and tumble, impetuous man.
Once they had returned to shore with their abundance of fish, Peter realized his sinfulness and his lack of faith. So much so he told our Lord that He should depart from him! I am sure as time went on, Peter was very glad Jesus didn't listen to him.
I often find myself in Peter's position, wondering how or why our Lord wants anything to do with the likes of me. I know that He sees what I can't and He is willing to work with that if I let Him.
One of my favorite scenes depicting this Gospel passage is in the movie Jesus of Nazareth. Robert Powell was the actor who portrayed Jesus in that movie. I love the expression on his face as he watches Peter coming in from a night of non~productive fishing yelling and screaming all the way.The actor as Jesus seems to have a look of amusement on his face and I wonder if the real Jesus had that same expression upon first encountering Peter. It is a very earthy, human scene.
For today's meditation, I thought I would leave you with that scene. YouTube is not allowing embedding for this one so follow the Jesus of Nazareth link above to get to the clip. The entire clip is seven plus minutes but the fishing scene ends after about six minutes. This is a very good visual for today's Gospel passage.
Enjoy and have a Blessed Sunday!
Note: Insert photo: Sunset on Lake Genesareth
Comments
*goes off wondering if Jesus ever looks at me with that amused smile..*
And I knew exactly what scene you were talking about as I read your post. I really enjoy that movie and I often wonder if some of the facial expressions, etc are accurate.
God Bless.
My other favorite seen in that movie is another "earthy" one as you put it:) It's where Our Lord is enjoying Himself snacking on a Pomegranate while He teaches the multitudes!!!
My kids and I LOVE Pomegranates for that reason...they're very expensive here...but when in season...we treat ourselves to a couple every year just to imagine this scene in real life!
I know the scene you are talking about. I think it is sometimes easy for us to forget that Jesus while on earth had to do all the earthly things we do like eat and sleep. What a great way to bring a bit of His earthly life into your own.