September 3, 2026 Memorial of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church Gospel: Lk 5:1-11
Today is Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time. Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church. The recently published Roman Missal tells us: Saint Gregory the Great (540-604) belonged to a Roman patrician family and served as a magistrate before embracing the monastic life. He acted as Papal Legate at Constantinople and was elected Pope in 590. He tightened Church discipline and liturgical practice, reorganized the lands belonging to the Holy See, and sent Saint Augustine to convert the Kingdom of Kent. He is consequently called the “Apostle of the English,” and, thanks to his theological and pastoral writings, is a Doctor of the Church.
Today’s Scripture, taken from the Holy Gospel according to Luke, presents to us the scene of Jesus calling His first disciples. Let us try to understand it.
First, Saint Luke tells us: “While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.” (Lk 5:1)
The crowds who had heard Jesus teach in the synagogue of Judea regarded Him as a celebrity, a Messiah they had long awaited. Therefore, they pressed in on Him, wanting to hear the word of God from Jesus. Today, such phenomena frequently occur in our own churches. We often idolize certain priests who are particularly gifted in preaching or in theology and philosophy. Sometimes, we also look upon our Diocesan Bishops as idols. In our eyes, they are representatives of Christ. However, they are still ordinary people just like us; they are chosen by God to shepherd us. If our focus is merely on their outward appearance, then we are no different from those who pressed in on Jesus, for what they focused on was merely superficial, rather than the words spoken by Jesus Himself.
Next, a scene that deeply moved me appears: “He saw two boats there at the water’s edge. The fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.” (Lk 5:2-3) Unlike the actions of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus took the initiative to choose Simon, and from Simon’s boat, He proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom to those on the shore.
Another deeply moving scene is the dialogue between Jesus and Peter, and the narrative of Peter obeying Jesus’ command to “put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Lk 5:4-11) This reminds me of the reflections of two former Popes. When speaking of “putting out into deep water and lowering your nets,” Saint Pope John Paul II said: “These words… invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm, and to look to the future with confidence.” (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, Apostolic Letter, n. 1). Pope Benedict XVI, in his Letter to the Catholics of China, also quoted these words to encourage Chinese Catholics. The Pope said: “The Church is also called to be a witness to Christ, looking to the future with hope, and considering the new challenges facing the Chinese nation when proclaiming the Gospel.” (cf. Letter to the Catholics of China, n. 3). However, in my view, these words of Jesus are an invitation to us. He invites us to leave our former way of life, to cast aside our burdens, to follow the holy will of God’s word, and to always be prepared to make sacrifices for the sake of God’s word.
Today, by faith, and through the reception of Baptism in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be children of God. Due to human weakness, we are often timid. Because of this timidity, we may also ask Jesus to leave us. But Jesus asks us to leave the environments we each consider safe and comfortable, to trust in Him always, and to act according to His holy will. He is always with us, He always works with us, to save all those caught in the snares of the world, freeing them from this world that leads to ruin and destruction, and from the trials of the devil and his agents. Having experienced the love God bears for them, may they resolve, like Peter, James, and John, to bravely leave everything behind and follow Christ.
On this Memorial of Pope Saint Gregory, the Great, let us unite our hearts and minds and offer our prayers to God:
O God, who care for your people with gentleness and rule them in love, through the intercession of Pope Saint Gregory, endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom those to whom you have given authority to govern, that the flourishing of a holy flock may become the eternal joy of the shepherds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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