A word on “duc in altum”…

I posted with such haste earlier this week I forgot to note why I got started thinking about that phrase from the Gospel (Luke 5: 1-11): duc in altum – Go out into the depths!

Last Sunday, our Youth Contemporary Choir officially began with a wonderful start at the 6 pm Mass… of course, I was sneaking around to hear our friends singing (as I was unlocking in the Old Church and turning on a few lights for the meeting) and was thinking about that darkened stain glass window in the Choir Loft.  I thought to myself… I don’t recall that window… I wonder what that window depicts… and so… I found a little flyer-thing on the stain glass windows of our Church… and there it was: duc in altum – the very moment in the Gospel when Jesus calls Simon (aka: Peter) to be his disciple after the great catch of fish!

Anyway, my thought on that passage is still posted below, with the link to a nice little video for your musing… but here is what our Church program insightfully offers on the Rose Window in our Choir Loft:

The Rose Window – The Call of Peter

Before Peter was head of the Church, he was a simple fisherman named Simon.  This window depicts Jesus Speaking with Simon and his brother Andrew as described in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5:1-10.  Jesus tells Simon to put out in the deep and let their net for a catch.  At first, Simon resists Jesus’ word, but he eventually listens.  The fishermen make miraculous catch that nearly breaks their nets.  They needed the help of others to haul in an abundance of fish that fills two boats.  In the window, we See Simon’s hand placed upon his chest as he humbles himself before the Lord Jesus, saying to him, “Depart from me, I am a sinful man.”  Peter then receives the call as Jesus responds to him, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be a fisher of men.”  At this word, Simon leaves everything and follows Jesus.

(From “A Pilgrimage of Light: The Stained Glass Windows of Holy Name of Jesus Parish”)

In that one paragraph we receive a brilliant insight into the beauty both the Gospel and our Rose Window – we can reflect anew upon the life Jesus Christ… and thus I offered a few of my thoughts in my post from the other day… I hope this little extra insight into the Gospel and our wonderful stained glass window in the Choir Loft helps you to follow the Lord more authentically today. 

Let’s keep one another in prayer!

May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly,

Fr. W