5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C, Year I)
Community Word: As disciples of Christ, we are called to proclaim God’s word.
Theme: We proclaim God’s word when we respond to His call to be fishers of men.
Promise: “The Lord will complete what He had for me.” (Ps 138:8)
Reflection:
In the first reading, Isaiah has a vision of the Lord in the temple. Overwhelmed at seeing the ‘King, the Lord of Glory,’ and by his sense of unworthiness and smallness as a human being, he declares: “I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips” (Is 6:5).
To be a worthy ambassador of the Holy One, he had to be cleansed, and an angel touched his lips with ember from the altar to remove his wickedness and purged his sin. Thus cleansed, he was able to say with conviction, “Here am I, send me” (Is 6:8) when he heard the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send?”
Isaiah’s powerful vision of the holiness of God changed his life. He realized that not only the temple, but the world is filled with God’s glory, “the earth is filled with His glory” (Is 6:3), demonstrating that God is at work, not just in individual lives but in the events of world history; and present not only in the individual human soul, but in world affairs.
In the second reading, taken from the letter to the Corinthians, Paul recalls a different kind of experience and encounter with God on his way to Damascus. A devoted, if not fanatical Pharisee, Saul was on his way to persecute Christians, but was stopped along the way by a very bright light and a voice that identified itself as the voice of Jesus Chrsit, whom Saul was persecuting. That marked the transformation of Saul, the persecutor of Christians, to Paul, “the least of the apostles, even unfit to be called an apostle” (1Cor 15:9). Then with the same single-minded commitment and devotion with which he previously persecuted Christians, Paul now preached the gospel of Christ. In this letter, he relates how God’s grace enabled him to work harder than all the other apostles in spreading the gospel, and how he experienced forgiveness and redemption, as free gift, a grace from God, “by God’s grace I am what I am” (1Cor 15:10). Like Paul, we too are cleansed and made whole not by our own efforts, but by Christ’s cross and resurrection. And all is gift.
In Psalm 138, the psalmist affirms that the Lord will fulfill His purpose for us, even though we may walk in the midst of trouble.
The gospel tells us about the disciples’ frustrating night of fruitless fishing without a landing a catch of fish. They were even hesitant to cast their nets again when Jesus suggested it, but when they obeyed – “at your word, I will let down the nets” (Lk 5:5) – they were blessed beyond their expectations. Today, even when things look dark and gloomy, and our efforts seem to end in failure, Jesus invites us to remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with hope and confidence. Heeding Jesus will encourage us to persevere, for whatever our limitations, if we are faithful, Christ will use us to further His kingdom. Peter’ himself had flaws and limitations, but his power came from his obedience to Jesus.
A temple, a highway and seashore – three very different settings. Isaiah, Paul and Peter, three very different people and personalities, each experiencing a different aspect of the majesty of God. What they learned of God from their moment of encounter and call changed their lives forever and became their lived witness to others. Their call reminds us that in every time and place, God calls men and women to continue the work of evangelization.
What did Jesus see in these men? They were imperfect and weak, but Jesus looked at them with love, with trust and confidence that they can be fired up for mission. Jesus looks at people and believes in their capacity to do better, to be the best. How often do we look at people and limit them because we fail to appreciate their potential, or can’t see what they can still become, given trust and inspiration to accomplish more. The flaws in our lives can become beautiful opportunities for God to turn a negative into a positive, a minus into a plus. Facing up to our feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, or sinfulness in the light of God’s holiness and righteousness is a necessary step, if God is to use us as instruments of His truth.
In whatever way God touches our life and awakens us from spiritual slumber, the benefit is not meant for ourselves alone, but for the good of others when we lead them to God. Spiritual awakenings can come into our community as in the case of Isaiah, or our plans could be interrupted as St. Paul’s was on his way to Damascus. It could come through our simple obedience to God’s word, just as Peter listened to Jesus and cast his net into the sea again, despite having spent the night fishing without a catch.
The men and women whom God commissions will always identify their own faults and failures. But in spite of these, they will also recognize God’s readiness to forgive and empower, freeing them to work with supreme confidence on behalf of the poor and hungry. When we work, we need to keep our hearts close to the Lord and listen to His voice calling us, weary or not, beaten or unbeaten, we do as He bids us – “Put out into the deep water” (Lk 5:4), and we shall not toil in vain. Whatever may be God’s way of calling us, one thing is certain – it is the Spirit who stirs in us a desire to look for God and respond to His call. It is God’s Spirit who operates, however unrecognized, at every moment of our life and in all circumstances, leading us to where we are meant to be to spread and share the gospel. The truth about God is what we bring to others and what others need to hear from us.
Reflection Questions:
1. What is it in our lives that prevent us from sharing the truth about God?
2. In what ways can we speak of His forgiveness, His mercy, His justice, His patience, the saving power of His law in our life?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
February 10, 2013 (Sun) Is 6:1-2,3-8/ Ps 138:1-5, 7-8/1Cor 15:1-11
Lk 5:1-11
February 11, 2013 (Mon) Gn 1:1-19/Ps 104:1,2,5,6,10,12-24,25
Mk 6:53-56
February 12, 2013 (Tues) Gn 1:20-2:4/Ps 8:4-9/Mk 7:1-13
February 13, 2013 (Wed) Jl 2:12-18/Ps 51:3-6,1-14,17/2Cor 5:20-6,2
Mt 6:1-6,16-18
February 14, 2013 (Thur) Dt 30:15-20/Ps 1:1-4,6/Lk 9:22-25
February 15, 2013 (Fri) Is 58:1-9/Ps 51:3-6,18,9/Mt 9:14,15
February 16, 2013 (Sat) Is 58:9-14/Ps 86:1-6/Lk 5:27-32
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
