Free for New Chapters

by © LPi Fr. John Muir  |  02/09/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

My parents’ garage is full of old junk that no longer serves any purpose in my life. As a 46-year-old man, I admit that’s pretty lame. Either due to my sentimentality or laziness (or both, probably), I just couldn’t get myself to throw things away. But a few days ago, by a grace of God, I thought: “I’ll hire my nephew Ryan to throw a bunch of my stuff away — he couldn’t care less about my junk!” And you know what? It worked. In one day, Ryan chucked the majority of his uncle’s useless stuff. I feel so free, ready for a new junk-free chapter in my life.

This kind of thing happens in this Sunday’s Gospel. Peter’s net is full of useless junk. Luke says he and the others are cleaning their nets after catching no fish. Imagine them dejectedly and impatiently removing a nasty assortment of seaweed, sticks and muck. The Lord teaches and calls them once their nets are cleared out. So it goes with us. Spiritual life begins by removing that which is useless and merely taking up space in our hearts, minds and lives. Then Jesus teaches and acts in a marvelous way in our lives, too.

So what’s junking up your net? What habits, attachments, possessions, preoccupations? If, like me, you struggle to clean your nets by yourself, ask the Lord to send you someone like my nephew to be your “Peter” and help you clean it out. It is well worth it. Once Peter’s net is clean, he is free to make a wonderful catch.