Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 75
Reading 1
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.
They cried one to the other,
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!"
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
"See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said; "send me!"
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1c) In the sight of the
angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Reading 2
I am reminding you, brothers and
sisters,
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
Or
Brothers and sisters,
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come after me
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
While the crowd was pressing in on
Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."
Simon said in reply,
"Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets."
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
In the presence of God, we are all unworthy. There is no comparison between us and God. We will always fall short in His eyes. This is a stark truth, but it also serves as encouragement. It is good to remember that, in the end, God chooses us just the way we are and invites us to accept Him into our lives. With this acceptance comes an unavoidable change. What perceptions of life that we had before will be replaced with a revelation of truth that is incomparable to anything that came before. In the Scripture Reading today from Isaiah, he was blessed with Divine Revelation. God appeared before Him to deliver a prophetic message. In reaction, Isaiah was horrified. He realized that he was unworthy to even be in the presence of God, yet alone be commissioned to deliver a message to the Jewish people. He confessed to himself and God regarding his unworthiness. In response, God cleansed Him and transformed Him. Invigorated by this forgiveness, Isaiah passionately accepted what was being asked of him.
Knowing that we are forgiven is central to a fruitful relationship with God. Our past failures possess the power to define us and dictate to us our perception of our present and future selves. They can limit our potential, while painting a darker picture of who we really are. The reality is that no one is perfect and without sin. Jesus said it the best when he said,
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
Who are the sinners, but everyone? No one is truly righteous, except for God. Those who may think they are righteous are sinning as a result. Realizing our shortcomings is the first step in repairing our relationship with God. That is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so important. Coming forward to ask God for forgiveness and being told we are forgiven clears away all that clutter and wreckage that we have created. This debris was a barrier that we erected between us and God. Reconciliation is an invitation to God to smash through that wall of sin and sweep it all away. If God is willing to do that, then who are we to lament on something that is no longer there? Guilt is nothing more than an impediment preventing us from doing better in the future. It is a negative feeling that, if it does not motivate us to do better, has the capability to hurt us while encouraging us to return to our old ways.
Through the practice of reverence, we can learn to overcome the feelings of regret tied to our past actions, while focusing on the betterment of ourselves. Reverence is a virtue, a high moral standard, defined as, “The feeling of awe, respect, and shame felt at the right time.” Shame basically comes in two forms, good and bad. Good shame motivates us to do better in the future and leads to positive action, while bad shame is something that impedes us, making us feel less than we really are. God does not want us to feel bad shame. This goes against His expectations for us. He wants us to do better while feeling better about ourselves. He wants us to be the best version of ourselves. He is willing to help us in this endeavor if we let Him.
Being God’s children, we are all destined for some sort of greatness. What kind of greatness depends on who we are as individuals and what our relationship with God looks like. The stronger our relationship is, the more we will be able to see and understand what God wants for us. This greatness will come in many different forms and is not defined in human terms, but in spiritual. What those who would consider great when it comes to the criteria of society, just might be lacking in the eyes of God. There were no accomplishments that earned Isaiah the call to prophetic office. The Apostle Paul was doing the opposite of what God wanted before he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were mere fisherman prior to following Jesus. Their greatness was realized through God. God is constantly calling to us, it is up to us to respond.
The Apostle Paul presented his testimony in his letter to the Corinthians. Straightforward as it may be, it serves as a statement of fact. What he was preaching was what had occurred and what had been witnessed by hundreds of people before. These things then become irrefutable in the face of anyone who wished to challenge them. He was not writing from a position of authority but one who was invited to spread the Good News. He makes this point known by labeling himself as “abnormal” and the least amongst the witnesses because of his persecution of the church. He was of an unworthy state but great in the eyes of God. To be least in the eyes of the world raises us up to the greatest of heights in the eyes of God.
By embracing our unworthiness in the eyes of God, it can then we washed away through a right relationship. All things are better with God. Our lives can be immeasurably changed by letting Him in and permitting Him to do the work necessary to transform us into new creations. The phrase, “Let go and let God,” comes to mind. He becomes the vehicle necessary for us the achieve what we need to achieve to live a life worth living.
Deacon Tom
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