|
February 7, 2010 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I Is 6:1-2a, 3-8
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!”
Reading II 1 Cor 15:1-11 or 15:3-8, 11
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.
Gospel Lk 5:1-11
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.
……
We hear in the first reading the dramatic call of Isaiah.
He protests…he has unlean lips and is unworthy.
But God intervenes and Isaiah is told your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.
God fixed him up, which is what Baptism does for us. Do we feel it Do we realize it ?
No God asks “Who will go for us ?”
Isaiah, who knows he is privileged to this vision, generously responds “Here I am; send me.”
In the 2nd reading, Saint Paul marvels that he has been sent as an apostle, he who persecuted Christians, and watched approvingly as the first martyrwas stoned.
God removed his wickedness, purged his sin. After being struck blind, Paul answered…here I am send me.
Jesus in the Gospel teaches his disciples …and us…a lesson.
The waters may look fished out, but by listening to God, by doing his will, we too can make a big catch.
We are not all called to be prophets and apostles in the official sense, but we are in the broad sense, in our calling to sincerely and faithfully do our best to follow Christ in His church.
And there is something special that each of us is being called to do for God in this world. It is why he made us and sent us here to this place and this time. In the circumstances of our individual lives, He is asking us….will you do it ?
Jesus tells us…do not be afraid. We should have no fear to answer yes.
In the words of St Paul…I am what I am. And that, you may remember, is Gods very name.
We share in Christ’s divinity and we share it in this Eucharist. By the grace of God each of us is what each of us is, and his grace to us has cannot be ineffective.
May we work; not us, however, but the grace of God that is with us.
And may God reward you richly for the work you do today for The Priory family, this part of the Body of Christ.
| 
