Turn To Jesus' Teachings For Answers
Our gospel story for the weekend of Feb. 9-10 began with a couple of discouraged fishermen. They had worked all night and had nothing to show for it. Then Jesus came along, climbed into one of the boats, sat down and began to teach them. Only when he finished teaching did Jesus encourage the fishermen to try casting their nets out again into deep water. When they followed his instructions, they were rewarded with the biggest catch of their lives.
Most of us can easily identify with feeling discouraged. We work hard at our jobs but are underpaid or passed over for promotion. We work hard to be good parents, but our children still struggle and suffer. We put time and energy into relationships that flounder or events that flop. We study hard for tests but still fail, and the list goes on. Discouragement is part of the human experience.
Often when we are suffering or discouraged in life, we pray for miracles to resolve the problem. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, but sometimes I think miracles are slightly overrated. Miracles are one-time events that happen to a very limited number of people in a certain time and place. If I am sick and suffering, and I pray for a miraculous cure and I receive one, that miracle solves one problem, one time. But I will certainly suffer again. I will get sick again at some point; or people I love will get sick; or people I love will die; or I will experience some other kind of physical or emotional pain.
All the fish from the miraculous catch eventually got eaten or spoiled. The crowds on the mountainside that were fed with the miraculous loaves and fishes eventually got hungry again. The people Jesus healed eventually got sick and died. Miracles are inspiring, and they get a lot of attention, but they are temporary fixes to the problem of human suffering. Luckily for us, we have something far more enduring than miracles to transform our pain in the discouraging moments of our lives. We have the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus may not be walking around in a robe and sandals these days performing miracles; but through the power of His teachings, He is still transforming lives. Unlike miracles, the teachings of Jesus are always available to us. Every time we open a Bible to the New Testament or open our ears to the Gospel readings at Mass, Jesus climbs into our lives and begins to teach us. In the Gospels, Jesus teaches us about the evils of excluding others, judging others and hating others. He teaches us about the power of love and forgiveness. He teaches us to share and to care for those less fortunate than we are. He teaches us to reach out to those our society shuns. Above all things, Jesus teaches us to trust in the unconditional love of God for all people, at all times and in all situations. If we pay attention to the teachings of Jesus, reflect upon them and then follow His instructions no matter how difficult or strange they might seem, our lives will change for the better – and the changes will last. The teachings of Jesus will give us the courage we need to overcome discouragement and will bring us a spiritual peace that transcends all our human suffering.
So instead of giving up when we are discouraged or praying for a miracle, maybe we could try delving deeper into the teachings of Jesus. Like the fisherman in our Gospel story, our lives may be transformed in ways we cannot even imagine.
