Joining Jesus in Gathering People
Updated: Sep 30
Devotional Reflection, Monday, September 28, 2026
Proper 21, the week of the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 987)
AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52
Hosea 2:14-23; Acts 20:17-38; Luke 5:1-11
Today we celebrate the Feast of Paula and Eustochium. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Fishing for people. When we fish we gather.. That was Jesus’ own calling. He was fishing when he met these two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John. He wanted them to join him in the mission of gathering a new community; they would be announcing and embodying the fulfillment of God’s long-standing promises of salvation to Israel. His invitation to them was a bit of fishing, as it were, seeking to gather them into a community on mission.
What does Jesus’ desire to gather people say about the God who sent him? It seems obvious to me. The God who came in Jesus Christ loves all his creatures profoundly. Having any of us living apart from a living relationship with God creates unrest and discomfort within the being of the divine. That unrest found expression in the repeated coming of prophets and in the coming of Jesus.
You and I have been gathered unto God by the fishing efforts of countless people, some unknown to us. As a child, I had no knowledge of the identity of those who gave the money to pay for the church building and the minister’s salary at Trinity Baptist Church in Oakdale, Louisiana. My younger brother, John, and I carried ice water for the carpenters putting up the first building in a blistering Louisiana summer. I had no knowledge of those who organized the Sunday School and the Vacation Bible Schools I attended.
I treasure my paternal grandparents, Delta and Elizabeth, who guided me toward God. I can remember the names of my Sunday School teachers, Tressie Strother and Pokie Rougeau and Delta, my grandfather. I can remember the names of the ministers who took an active interest in me in high school, Steve Caskey, Herman Sullivan, Bill Hines, and Charles Vermillion. I can remember the name of the campus minister who cared for me in college, Jerry Johnston.
I give thanks for the people of St. Thomas on the Bayou Episcopal Church; they loved me as a new Episcopalian. They took me in and supported my journey toward priesthood. I give thanks for Bishop Robert Hargrove who guided me and ordained me. All these people formed part of God’s great fishing expedition that gathered me unto God’s love and kept me from wandering away.
You and I can’t repay those whose willingness to fish and whose faithfulness brought us to God. But, we can pass on to others the love, interest, compassion, and prayers that brought us to God and have kept us there. Your children, your relatives, your neighbors, your friends, your acquaintances—have they yet been gathered unto God? If so, have some of them drifted?
Jesus promises to enable us to fish for people. Our excuses, our negligence, and our fears count for little up against the incredible debt of love we owe to others and the raw spiritual huger all around us. It’s time to join more fully with Jesus’ ongoing mission of fishing for people.
Collect of the Day, Proper 21, the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 235)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Paula and Eustochium, monastics and scholars.
Collect of the Feast of Paula and Eustochium
Compel us, O God, to attend diligently to your Word, as did your faithful servants Paula and Eustochium, that, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we may find it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; and that thereby we may be made wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
Of the Holy Spirit
Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 251)
A Prayer for Light
Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord; and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. (BCP, 111)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)
Daily Office Gospel, Luke 5:1-11
5Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ 6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ 9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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