03-09-2026, Thursday of Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St Gregory the Great
1 Cor 3: 18-23; Ps 24: 1-6; Lk 5: 1-11
βάθος (Gk) (bathos) (Deep) (Lk 5:4)
The Word to reflect today is from today’s Gospel passage according to Luke (5:1-11). The word βάθος means a distance below a surface depth; deep place of earth, of sea; a great or extreme degree of anything (in relation to God depths – inexhaustibility (Rom 11:33), and in relation to man depths – extremity (2 Cor 8:2) and as knowledge difficult to understand, deep secrets, deep-laid plans (1 Cor 2:10)
Jesus in the passage moves from preaching along the shore of Lake Gennesaret into the daily workspace of weary fishermen. Jesus orchestrates an encounter that redefines their vocation from ordinary labour to apostolic mission. Jesus tells Simon, “Put out into deep (bathos) water and lower your nets for a catch.” bathos means “the deep.” It represents not merely deep water, but the vast, uncharted, and vulnerable space beyond the safety of the shallows. In ancient Semitic thought, deep waters were unpredictable, chaotic, and dangerous.
Jesus demands that Simon move out of his comfort zone and into radical dependence. Simon replies: “Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing…” He points to utter exhaustion, sweat, and weariness. Simon and his crew had poured out all their expertise and physical energy, yet their nets remained empty. However, Simon counters his professional instinct with Jesus’ authority, even before Simon fully understands His divine identity. Simon addresses Jesus as Ἐπιστάτα (Epistata – administrative master). Simon’s response is an act of obedience: “Based on the concrete instruction You have spoken, despite what my experience dictates, I will cast the net.”
When the nets strain to breaking under the sheer volume of fish, Simon Peter falls at Jesus’ knees. His form of address transforms immediately. Jesus is no longer just Epistates; Simon now cries out to Him as Κύριε (Kyrie) – “Lord,” the divine title used for Yahweh. He identifies himself as a “sinful man.” In biblical epiphanies (Isa 6), encountering the unshielded glory and holiness of God does not inflate the human ego; it exposes human inadequacy. Peter’s plea “Depart from me”, is the visceral reflex of unworthiness in the presence of the Sacred. All of Peter’s companions were overwhelmed. They were astonished, with reverent awe that renders one speechless and immobilized.
Jesus replaces Peter’s fear with a commissioning that fundamentally reorients his life. Jesus tells Peter he will be “capturing people alive” – plucking human beings out of the chaotic, suffocating depths of sin and death, and preserving them for eternal life in the Kingdom.
At the moment of their greatest financial catch, they leave both the boats and the fish to follow Jesus. Simon had the training, the tools, and the diligence, yet his nets were bare. Divine abundance is not activated by human effort alone, but by our willingness to cast into the bathos, the deep places of vulnerability and trust.
What about you? Are you willing to leave your expertise, and to cast in the Deep (bathos) at His word?