Have you ever heard the phrase, "there is no such thing as coincidence, but only God moments"? I know it may sound cheesy, and I don't like cheesy. However, God is always acting and bringing things to himself. We just are blessed in those moments to see God's action being revealed. This happened to me in the fall when I went to Tucson, AZ for the funeral of my dad's brother, Uncle Bob. It was a busy time at Our Lady of Mercy, as I had an anointing and funerals already scheduled that week on top of a full schedule. Providentially, I was able to get away as the funeral Mass took place on my day off. 

    The previous month, my mother had asked if I had the opportunity to catch up with someone the Lord had brought into our lives 11 years prior. I had met this woman maybe 3 times total, and due to her husband’s work, she traveled and moved from Colorado to Illinois to California with children in other continental states. So of course, the answer to my mother was no! However, little did I know that the Lord would bring this person back into my life, even for a quick moment. 

     The one benefit of remembering this person I had met 11 years ago was recalling that her name was Betty White. Not the one from the Golden girls, but a woman who shared her Catholic conversion story with my family in the Chicago airport on our way to Washington, DC. Needless to say, as I walked off the plane in Tucson and was people-watching, there she was waiting to board a plane in the terminal I was exiting! I was able to greet her immediately with a great smile and joyful, "Betty White"! She got up, gave me a hug, and introduced me to the person sitting next to her as her priest friend "Fr. Michael." You can only imagine what that person sitting next to her was thinking! What a weird, joyful moment at a small airport, in a time which was quite somber. 

     Why do I bring this up? Our Gospel reveals Jesus working intentionally to enter into Simon Peter's life. If you initially read the story, it might seem like Jesus simply stumbles upon Simon because he needs the use of his boat to teach. However, in the previous chapter, Jesus goes and heals Simon's Mother-in-law. Jesus has a plan, and it unfolds in the Gospel. You see Jesus pursue Simon, who has a conversion in the midst of the Gospel story. Initially, Simon calls Jesus “master”, but after the catch of fish Simon begins to understand who is actually in front of him. Simon changes his tune and calls Jesus “Lord.” In the next chapter, the Gospel writer Luke introduces him as “Simon, whom he [Jesus] named Peter.” This wasn't a coincidence, but the Lord acting in Simon Peter's life in a very intentional and personal way, signifying Peter’s call to a new mission. 

     Jesus is always acting and bringing about opportunities in our lives for us to have our own conversions. Sometimes we don't see them, and yet we might be surprised by all the “coincidences” in the world. Maybe in our own reflection, and definitely in Heaven, we will see all the ways that the Lord worked in our lives as there are no coincidences.