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Bishop Philip's Homily for the All-School Mission at Trinity High, Renfrew

28th January 2008

Jesus tells Simon Peter, “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.”

In the last few years, that phrase, “Put out into the deep” has become almost a guiding motif for Catholics who are engaging in a new spiritual enterprise or quest. The injunction, “Put out into the deep” carries with it an attitude of radical trust in the Lord as people engage in the Lord’s work, even though they do not quite see how it will all turn out. “Put out into the deep” is what the Lord says to you as you begin this all-school mission.

There are 3 things I would hope for from a school mission of this kind. The first thing is greater union with Christ. Union with Christ is the centre of Christian life. To know him is to know the Father. To be one with him is to be one with God. So your school mission needs to bring before everyone very clearly the person of Jesus Christ, his life, death and resurrection, his gospel and his message. A test of the success of the school mission might be the extent to which you sense that your faith in the Lord has grown and developed.

The second thing I would hope for from a school mission is a greater sense of belonging to the Church. Jesus calls us to himself and at the same time he calls us to his Church. There is no space for the attitude that says, “I accept Jesus but not the Church”. Jesus would not recognise that attitude. He is the Head of his Body the Church. The Church is the Bride of Christ whom he loves and for whom he has sacrificed himself. So your school mission needs to bring before people very clearly the nature and the mission of the Church as God’s chosen instrument in his plan for bringing human beings to friendship with Him and to unity and peace with each other. Another test of the success of your school mission might be how many of you go the Mass and the sacraments more often as a result of your mission experience and how much more you become a part of your parish community.

The third thing I would hope for from a school mission is a greater sense of service to one another and to the Church. Jesus has loved us and he showed us how perfect his love was when he died on the cross. Jesus calls us to love as he has loved us, which is to say unselfishly, abundantly, greatly. There are so many people here and elsewhere who need our love, our help, our concern, and our generosity. A third test of the success of your mission might how many people as a result of the mission are inspired to do something for others by dedicating yourself to an important Christian cause: life, justice and peace, the relief of poverty, the spread of the gospel.

When Jesus asked Peter and his fishermen to put out into the deep, they did so despite their misgivings and fatigue. Remarkably the evangelist tells us: “And when they had done his they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear.

The lesson seems to be that when we do what the Lord asks us with trust and hope, the results will far outweigh our doubts and our meagre expectations. I encourage you to put out into the deep and to undertake this school mission in a spirit of obedient trust in the Lord. May the Lord bless your efforts more than you ever imagined.