Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In
my work in our parish school, and on the monthly occasions when I teach
theology at Lansing Catholic high school, I have found that generally students
fall into one of two categories when you ask them a question. The first type of student is the “pick me,
pick me!” students who can barely control themselves because they know the
answer and they want to prove it.
The other type of student is the “Dear God, do not let Fr. Anthony call
on me!” students who try to avoid eye contact and would rather do just about
anything than be forced to answer a question, whether they know the right
answer or not.
We
appear to have both types of people in our first reading and our Gospel
today. Isaiah is like the first
type of student. As Isaiah is
caught up in ecstasy, seeing a vision of God on the throne with the Seraphim
and the heavenly hosts, with incense rising, he is at first made aware of his
sinfulness, but then, having been cleansed, he is all-too-ready to respond when
the Lord asks, “‘Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?’”
In
our Gospel, we see the second type of student in the person of St. Peter. He is reluctant, doesn’t think he can
succeed (both at fishing and at being a disciple), is all too aware of his
sinfulness, and does not want to be called on. But the Lord still chooses him, and, as we know the rest of
the story, Jesus chooses Him to lead His Church as the first pope.
God
still calls. Jesus still
calls. The Lord still asks, “Whom
shall I send? Who will go for us?” Jesus still asks us to be His disciples
and put out into the deep waters.
Are we the type of person who says with Isaiah, “‘Here I am…send me!’”,
or are we the type of person who says with St. Peter, “‘Depart from me, Lord,
for I am…sinful’”? In both cases,
God is calling us.
Some
of you single men out there in the pews God is calling to be a priest. I am sure of it! God is calling you to abandon the
safety and security of doing what only you think is best, and to follow Jesus
in a new way, to conform your life to His, to be conformed through the
Sacrament of Holy Order to Jesus the Priest so that His people can continue to
be fed and nourished by the grace of the sacraments, especially the Sacraments
of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
Without priests, the People of God will not have their sins forgiven,
nor will they be able to be so closely united to Jesus through Holy
Communion.
Some
of you single men or single women out there in the pews God is calling to be a
consecrated brother or sister, or consecrated virgin. Some of you God is calling to leave everything behind and to
live out by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a religious
community the life of Jesus who was poor, chaste, and obedient to the Father’s
will. Some of you women who have
preserved as a treasured gift your virginity are called to consecrate your
virginity to God, to hand it over to Him and to be espoused to Jesus Christ,
the Divine Bridegroom for all eternity, even as you live in the world.
Many
of you men and women out there in the pews God is calling or has called to be
married and be parents. Others of
you are single. God is no less
calling you to be holy. In fact,
God is calling you in a special way to sanctify the world by your presence, in
ways that priests, religious, and consecrated virgins are not called. God needs you to fill society with the
leaven of the Gospel: your homes, your workplace, your rest, your vacation,
politics, so that the City of Man looks more and more like the City of
God. God calls you to offer every
part of your life to Him as an acceptable sacrifice, as Lumen gentium from the Second Vatican Council reminds us: “For all
[the laity’s] works, prayers and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married
and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation,
if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently
borne—all these become ‘spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.’” Without you, providing
an example of holiness of life and fidelity to the teachings of God through His
Church, the faith is not passed on, and people do not treasure the pearl of
great price that a relationship with God is.
Maybe
we’re afraid that we’re too sinful.
So was Isaiah, so was St. Peter.
Maybe we don’t think we have what it takes. If Isaiah or St. Peter knew everything that was ahead of
them, they may have turned back.
But day-by-day they were strengthened by God to preach the Gospel, so
others could believe. This
Wednesday we begin Lent. Use this
holy time to draw closer to the Lord, to learn more about Him, to get to know
Him so that you are comfortable saying “yes” to Him. All of the things we do—the fasting, the abstaining from
meat, the giving up of certain good things, the extra acts of penance—all of
these are meant to open us up so that it is easier for us to say “yes” to
God. It is all too easy to just do
the “Lent thing” again. Don’t
waste your precious time just floating by. Put out into deep waters! Is it scary? In
some ways, yes! It calls for
radical trust in God to actually live according to the Gospel. But Jesus won’t let you sink amid the
waves of sea. He will help you to
make a great catch; He will help you to spread His Word that brings people
happiness, and saves them from eternal death. In the Holy Name of God I ask: Whom shall we send? Who will go for us? What is your answer?
