Surrendering is synonymous with quitting, weakness, and giving up. When someone is bigger, better, or stronger; we surrender. When we are down, defeated, and when we have lost all hope; we surrender. It’s not an easy thing to do. No one wants to do it.
As Catholics, however, we find the greatest moments of strength when we surrender. Take the disciples for example. In the gospel reading, Jesus is with seven disciples. The disciples had been struggling to fish. They hadn't caught anything all night. Jesus told them to go back out and when they did, they caught fish (153, in fact).
Some people focus on the fact that when they went back out, they caught fish. I think it is important that they just went back out. Those seven disciples realize that their work on their own, doing what they think is best, is not always successful. They need some direction. They choose to surrender to Jesus.
They surrender not because they are good, but because he is good. Steve Angrisano writes in his song “Sweet Redeemer”:
I was lost and you found me;
In the darkness you were my light.
When I fell down you forgave me,
Lifted me up and drew me to your side…
From the shadow of the tomb you called me,
You rolled away the stone.
From the burden of my sin you saved me.
You made my heart your home.”
And he wants nothing more than for us to follow him, to love him, to love each other---to “feed his sheep”, and to be fully committed to living the life he wants us to live, and to do that, we must surrender all we have to him.