As we journey through the quiet richness of the fourth week after the Octave of Pentecost, Holy Mother Church, in her traditional calendar, gives us Scriptures that stir both the soul and the conscience. Today’s Epistle, Romans 8:18–23, speaks of patient hope amid suffering, while the Gospel, Luke 5:1–11, recounts the miraculous draught of fishes and the calling of the first Apostles. Together, these readings offer a luminous pattern: the suffering that prepares the soul for glory and the obedience that draws the soul into mission.
The Groaning of Creation and the Glory to Come (Romans 8:18–23)
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18)
St. Paul draws our eyes from the wounds of the present to the glory of the world to come. Yet he does not dismiss suffering—it is real, and it touches the whole of creation. In a passage redolent with eschatological longing, he depicts not only mankind but all of creation as subject to vanity and groaning in travail.
The glossa ordinaria, echoing the early Fathers, understands this vanity as the corruption introduced by Adam’s sin, and the groaning as the consequence of sin’s dominion in the world. But these groanings are not hopeless cries—they are parturition, the pains of birth, as St. John Chrysostom notes:
“He does not speak of a destruction, but of a change, of a sort of birth-pang… the creature suffers violence, not to perish, but that it may be re-fashioned.” (Homilies on Romans, XIII)
We, too, as adopted sons in Christ, feel within ourselves the yearning for redemption—not only the forgiveness of sins, but the glorification of the body, the full flowering of divine sonship. This tension is fruitful. As St. Augustine teaches:
“The whole creation groans with us, because it is made for us. It is not unreasonable that we, being better, should be restored first, and through us, the rest of creation.” (In Epistolam ad Romanos, Expositio)
Thus, suffering becomes not an obstacle to glory, but the forge of it. It draws out of us a hope “that is seen not,” a hope tried by fire.
From the Shore of Sin to the Deep of Obedience (Luke 5:1–11)
In the Gospel, Our Lord comes to the shore of Gennesaret, where fishermen have toiled all night in vain. In this luminous moment, Christ first teaches from the barque of Peter, then bids him, “Put out into the deep” (Lk 5:4). The Latin Vulgate captures this powerfully: Duc in altum.
St. Ambrose sees in Peter’s initial reluctance and eventual obedience a mirror of the Christian soul:
“Although Peter had toiled all night, he obeys at the word of Christ. This is the faith which is not broken by delay, nor weakened by toil.” (Expositio in Lucam, IV)
Here we see the movement from human effort to divine fruitfulness. The miraculous catch is a sign not only of Christ’s lordship over creation but of His power to make fruitful what seems barren—both in the sea and in the human heart. The sea, like the world, is vast and mysterious. The nets, like the apostolic mission, are weak unless cast at the command of the Master.
St. Bede the Venerable draws the mystical connection between the barque of Peter and the Church:
“The boat of Peter, from which He teaches the multitude, is the Church. Christ teaches from her now, and within her the word bears abundant fruit.” (Homiliae Evangelii)
But this abundance leads not to self-glorification, but to awe and repentance. Peter, overwhelmed by the miraculous draught, falls at Jesus’ knees: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” How like Isaiah before the throne (cf. Is 6:5)! And yet, this humility does not disqualify—it readies Peter for his call: “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.”
Bringing the Readings Together: Redemptive Suffering and Apostolic Obedience
In the quiet stretch of Ordinary Time, far from the high feasts, these readings call us to persevere in hope and obey in faith. Creation groans, the Church labors, and the individual soul wrestles with the trials of life. Yet in Christ, suffering is fruitful and obedience is transformative.
The sequence is important: suffering precedes glory; humility precedes mission. As St. Leo the Great reminds us:
“The Lord willed that His disciples be partners in His humiliation before they would be partakers of His glory.” (Sermon 51, On the Beatitudes)
Thus, for those walking the path of penance, patient endurance, and apostolic work—especially in our time of confusion and vanity—the message of today’s Mass is clear: Put out into the deep. The night may have been fruitless, but Christ commands, and the nets will be filled.
Liturgical Note:
On Feria IV infra Hebdomadam IV post Octavam Pentecostes, the Church reflects deeply on the mission of the Apostles and the transformation of creation. The green vestments signal growth, hidden but real. Let us not despise small beginnings, nor the sufferings of the present time. They are the prelude to glory.
Prayer:
Domine, da nobis spem patientem et fidem oboedientem, ut in labore nostro te solum quaeramus, et gloriam tuam in nobis manifestetur per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.