A simple homily on Luke 5:1-11 beginning with a mushroom story that shows how God’s unexpected entry brings abundance. (4-9-25)
Praise be to Jesus Christ
It was a poor family in a small hut. One night, heavy thunder and rain poured down. The roof leaked, the fields were soaked, and the father sighed, “Oh my God, tomorrow I cannot even go to work… how will we feed the children?” The whole family sat in sadness that night, witnessing the storm and worrying about tomorrow. But when the morning sun rose and they stepped outside, they saw something strange. In the corner of their little land, mushrooms had sprung up during the night. They had not planted them, they had not watered them. Yet there they were fresh and plenty. The father gathered them, and there was more than enough to cook and feed the family that day. What looked like a night of loss became a morning of God’s surprise.
Something like this happens in today’s Gospel. Saint Luke tells us that Simon Peter and his friends had worked the whole night and caught nothing (Luke 5:5). Their nets were empty, their hearts were tired. And suddenly Jesus comes. He does not ask permission, He does not wait for a specific time. He simply steps into Simon’s boat (Luke 5:3). Just like those mushrooms that came without asking, Jesus enters without asking. The failure outlook became the beginning of abundance.
This tells us something very important; God does not always wait for us to be ready. He does not always come when we are strong. Very often He comes when we are weak, tired, and discouraged. He enters in ways that disturb our plans, like rain in the night or a guest at the wrong hour. But His interruption is never to destroy. It is to bless. We simply have to believe what Prophet Jeramiah prophesied: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeramiah 29:11).
We see the same truth in the Old Testament. Moses did not expect God while tending sheep in the wilderness, but suddenly a burning bush appeared (Exodus 3:2). Gideon was hiding in fear when the angel of the Lord came to him and called him a mighty warrior (Judges 6:11–12). None of them invited God. Yet God entered and changed their story.
The saints also knew this well. Saint Augustine confessed that God found him not when he was searching but when he was running away. Saint Teresa of Calcutta was on a simple train journey when she suddenly heard the call, “Come be my light.” That unexpected voice changed the whole course of her life.
This is relatable to our families too. Sometimes God enters without asking through a child we did not expect, through sickness that we did not plan, through difficulties that come like a storm in the night. At first we feel disturbed. We say, “How will we manage?” But if we open our eyes in the morning, we may find the mushrooms of His providence waiting for us, enough to sustain us and even to share.
In religious life also, God enters without asking. A change of place, a sudden responsibility, an unexpected challenge — these may feel like burdens. But often these are the ways in which the Lord steps into our boat, ready to turn our emptiness into abundance, just as He filled Peter’s nets until they began to break (Luke 5:6).
Simon Peter welcomed that interruption. At first, he was confused. But later, he saw that Jesus’ uninvited entry was the turning point of his whole life. He left everything and followed Him (Luke 5:11). The same can happen to us if we dare to welcome God when He comes without asking.
So when our plans break, when our nets are empty, when rain falls on our little hut, let us not despair. That may be the very moment when Christ is stepping into our boat. What looks like loss can become God’s morning of abundance.
Lord, Help me to see your hand in the nothingness of my life. Amen.
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God Bless…
: Very meaningful reflection 🙏🙏🙏
Very good 👍 meaning full message Nirmal Mary SAB,