5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C, Year II)
Community Word: Obedience to God’s call always bears much fruit in our lives.
Theme: We obey God’s call when we detach ourselves from worldly possessions.
Promise: “The Lord will complete what he has done for me.”(Ps 138:8)
Reflection:
Have you ever wondered why our Lord Jesus is so charismatic, or why we are always drawn to Him, even when we don’t feel like answering His call? It is because He never stops calling us to live a life of holiness, detached from worldly concerns. Actually, it is convenient for us to pray and give thanks when everything is going well in our life. But when we are burdened with problems, we tend rather to focus our energies on finding solutions, forgetting that we should, in fact, seek God first.
As we enter the Lenten season, we are reminded that we can only live a meaningful life when we are with the Lord. He is always waiting for us to come to Him whatever our circumstance. Therefore, our attitude should be one of vigilance and attentiveness to God’s voice.
When we heed God’s call as Peter did in the gospel, we are being changed. Peter’s transformation from hardworking fisherman to apostle and leader of the Church did not happen overnight. But God’s work in him started when he responded with obedience to Jesus’ powerful words, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch,” (Luke 5:4). Peter could have reacted negatively, after all, as he was a fisherman,he did not have to follow directions from a carpenter. Yet his reply to Jesus was “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets,” (Luke 5:5). His obedience was rewarded with the blessing of such a great catch, he had to call for help from other fishermen to haul in the fish. This blessing convicted him of his sinfulness, and he left everything behind to follow Jesus until he faced martyrdom.
In the 1st reading, Isaiah realizes his sinfulness and declares, “…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!”(Isaiah 6:5). He had to experience this moment of realization and respond to it appropriately, “Here I am…. send me!”(Isaiah 6:8), in order to receive the cleansing power of God that would turn him into a prophet.
In his teaching to the Corinthians, Paul addresses those who did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus after His death. His personal encounter with the risen Christ became his moment of conversion, from persecutor of God’s church to an apostle, whose mission was to proclaim the truth about Jesus’s resurrection, declaring in 1 Corinthian 15:9-10, “For I am the least of the apostle, 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.” It is clear then, that God does not choose perfect individuals to be His disciples. He perfects those whom He calls.
The theme for the 1st week of February tells us – We obey God’s call when we detach ourselves from worldly possessions. All of us are called to humbly obey God in everything. He expects us to be detached from, and not to be slaves to material things and the pleasures of this world. He exhorts us to store up treasures in heaven, rather than on earth, for only as we do, can we be worthy of God’s calling. In Psalm 138: 8, we receive God’s promise when we obey out of love: “The Lord will complete what He has done for me.” (Ps 138:8).
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your goodness and love as You continue to grant us the opportunity to renew ourselves. Thank you for our BLD community which helps us in the process of renewal. We desire to be obedient to all your commands that we may truly live a life of holiness, and to sing and proclaim Your praises, O Lord!
Reflection Questions:
1. What are the things or circumstances in my life that I cannot let go of? Why?
2. During Lent, how do I prepare to be able to hear God’s call? How do I respond when God asks me to do a something outside my comfort zone?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
February 7, 2016 (Sun) Is 6:1-6,3-8/ Ps 138:1-2,2-3,4-5,7-8/ 1Cor 15:1-11/ Luke 5:1-11
February 8, 2016 (Mon) 1Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13/Ps 132:6-7,8-10/Mk 6:53-56
February 9, 2016 (Tue) 1Kgs 8:22-23,27-30/Ps 84:3,4,5,10,11/Mk 7:1-13
February 10, 2016 (Wed) Jl 2:12-18/Ps 51:3-4,5-6,12-13,14,17/2Cor 5:20-6:2/Mt 6:1-6,16-18
February 11, 2016 (Thu) Dt 30:15-20/Ps 1:1-2,3,4-6/Lk 9:22-25
February 12, 2016 (Fri) Is 58:1-9/Ps 51:3-4,5-6,18-19/Mk 9:14-15
February 13, 2016 (Sat) Is 58:9-14/Ps 86:1-2,3-4,5-6/Lk 5:27-32
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
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