The image of a small, fragile fishing boat became an invitation to humility, courage, and renewed trust in God during the morning Mass of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) January 2026 Plenary Session.

In his homily, Fr Chris Chatteris SJ reflected on the Gospel scene of Jesus preaching from Simon Peter’s boat, an image often referred to in Christian tradition as the “Barque of Peter.” While art and history frequently portray the Church as a sturdy vessel battling the storms of the world, Fr Chatteris invited the bishops to return to the Gospel’s concrete reality: a small, frail, and vulnerable fishing craft, hardly the kind of platform one would expect for a message destined to reach the multitudes.

“Archaeology shows us that these boats were tiny,” he noted, “fragile little vessels.” Yet it was precisely from such a modest platform, owned and operated by ordinary people, that Jesus chose to proclaim the Word of God. For Fr Chatteris, this detail reveals something essential about God’s way of acting: not through displays of power, but through humility, closeness, and vulnerability.

In the Thursday, 22 January 2026 homily, Fr Chatteris suggested that this image offers a fitting metaphor for the Church today. From the outside, the Church is often perceived as a powerful and well-organised institution, but those who live and work within it know just how human, fragile, and vulnerable it can be. The same, he added, is true of those entrusted with leadership in the Church.

“We are not spiritual supermen,” he said, acknowledging the quiet struggles, weariness, and vulnerability that priests and bishops may experience. Yet this fragility, far from being a weakness to be denied, places the Church and her ministers squarely within the shared human condition that Christ himself embraced.

Drawing on a story from Ignatian spirituality, Fr Chatteris spoke of a burnt-out priest who, during a retreat, imagines Jesus asking to use his boat as a pulpit. In the end, the Lord reassures him: despite its limitations, it is “a pretty good boat” and a worthy place from which the Gospel can be proclaimed. The message, Fr Chatteris suggested, is one of encouragement: when ministry feels tiring or discouraging, God continues to work powerfully through what may seem small and inadequate.

As the bishops gathered for their plenary session, Fr Chatteris invited them to set aside any jaded or fearful feelings that can arise from carrying pastoral responsibility in an “all-too-human” Church. Echoing Jesus’ words to Peter, he encouraged them to “put out into the deep once again”, trusting not in their own strength, but in the Lord who calls them.

Following the Mass, Fr Chris Chatteris led the Bishops’ Day of Recollection, offering them time to step back from the demands of administration and pastoral pressures. The day provided space for silence, prayer, and reflection, helping the bishops to renew their relationship with the Lord and to return to their ministry with fresh courage, hope, and trust in God’s abiding presence.