The Call of Grace: Seeing and Hearing God’s Invitation
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. ”
This week’s Gospel reading brings us to the shores of Galilee, where Jesus calls Simon Peter and Andrew into discipleship. In Caravaggio’s The Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew, we see the precise moment of transformation. Christ, standing in divine light, gestures toward the fishermen, who react with astonishment and uncertainty. Their rough hands, accustomed to nets and labor, are suddenly caught between the life they know and the call they cannot ignore.
Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro—dramatic light and shadow—highlights the tension of grace. Peter’s hesitance and Andrew’s inclination forward remind us that divine calling is often met with both reluctance and readiness. The weight of the moment is in their eyes, in their bodies, in the silent confrontation with something greater than themselves.
Like Gideon in Judges 6, who questioned God’s call before embracing it, Peter and Andrew must step beyond their fears. We, too, are summoned, often in the midst of ordinary work, to follow Christ into the unknown. The miraculous catch of fish is not just a sign of abundance but of divine abundance breaking into human limitation.
“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’”
– Luke 5:10
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
Texts for this Week
Prayer
O Lord, our heavenly Father, keep your household the Church continually in your true religion, that we who trust in the hope of your heavenly grace may always be defended by your mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Scriptures
Judges 6:11–24
Psalm 85
I Corinthians 15:1–11
Luke 5:1–11
Miserere - MacMillan
As Caravaggio gives us a visual meditation on calling, James MacMillan’s Miserere offers us an aural one. A contemporary setting of Psalm 51, this piece is deeply penitential, its cascading harmonies reflecting both the anguish and beauty of divine mercy.
MacMillan’s music, infused with a stark yet luminous spirituality, captures the paradox of Peter’s response: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” The voices stretch and strain, echoing the soul’s wrestling with grace. Yet, just as Jesus does not depart from Peter, neither does the music remain in lament. Instead, it moves toward an overwhelming beauty, a sense of surrender, a quiet yet powerful transformation.
Much like Gideon’s reluctant courage, Peter’s astonished confession, and Paul’s declaration that he is what he is by grace alone, Miserere reminds us that calling is not about worthiness—it is about the overwhelming generosity of God’s invitation.
