The different Gospels tell us different stories about the call of Simon Peter. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus simply walks by the shore of Galilee and says, "Follow me." In the Gospel of John, Andrew and Peter had been disciples of John the Baptist. Andrew found Jesus first, and then called Peter to "come and see." In Luke’s Gospel today, we find that apparently Jesus knew Peter, because in the previous chapter, read yesterday, Jesus stayed at the home of Peter’s mother-in-law.

In yesterday’s gospel, Jesus miraculously cured all the sick who were brought to him at the house of Peter’s mother-in-law. In today’s gospel, Jesus again works a miracle. Even though Peter had fished all night and had caught nothing, at the word of Jesus, he tries again and catches a huge amount of fish.

This incident tells us an important truth about how God works in and through us for His glory. God expects of us greater things than we can do by ourselves. When we cooperate in his works, we accomplish far beyond what we can do on our own.

God asks us to always be in partnership with him…to live a good life; to do great things for the kingdom; to see the riches and gifts of all people in our world; and to bring justice and peace to the lives of all men and women.

All we need to do is listen, do what God says, trust, and then wait for the results. The difficult part is usually we aren’t sure about our own capabilities, and we aren’t sure when God is going to come through on his promise to be there for us – indicative of an immature faith.

The real stumbling block in all this is our reliance on our own capabilities. That’s where the real fault lies. And the truth of the matter is that we don’t really have any "capabilities" that are our own. Everything we have is God given. It is our job to find those God-given talents, given specifically to each one of us, and then use them in the service of others.

It is important to remember that when God’s word is spoken his kingdom is revealed and his power is released. When people respond to God’s word with faith and obedience, they are changed and made "a new creation" in Christ. God chooses ordinary people, like Peter, like you and me, as his witnesses and he uses the ordinary circumstances of our daily living and life to draw others into his kingdom.

Jesus speaks the same message to us today, as in the gospel: that we, like the apostles, will "catch people" for God’s kingdom if we allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through us. God wants others to see the light of Christ in us, in the way we live, speak, and witness the joy of the gospel message.