Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Some weeks when you go to Mass, it can be hard to find a common theme between all the readings, though there often is one. But this weekend, you’ll have no trouble picking it out – even if you’re half asleep or day-dreaming about what you’re going to order at the diner after Mass. In each of the readings the “main characters”; Isaiah, Paul and Peter, each have an encounter with God. And in each of their encounters with the Divine, they each have a similar response to his call; one of humility. They each come face to face with the living God and they each recognize, with an immediate clarity, their own unworthiness. God calls the humble of heart – those who recognize their own sinfulness and their need for redemption. God desires to heal us and to set us free, but if we don’t first realize that he is God and we are not, we’ll be standing in our own way.

Our first reading is from the book of Isaiah. The prophet has a vision of the Lord sitting enthroned in His heavenly kingdom. He is struck by his own unworthiness to behold the glory of the Lord for he is: “a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips”. Then one of the seraphim, with an ember taken from the altar, touches his lips and he is healed. “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” Then God calls: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” and Isaiah answers: “‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’” And Isaiah goes on to become one the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.[[In-content Ad]]In the second reading, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to hold fast to the faith they have received, and he relates to them the story of his own conversion (which can be read in more detail in Acts chapter 9). Jesus appears to him as he is on the way to Damascus. Paul is travelling there to imprison the followers of Christ when he has a sudden, supernatural encounter with God. Jesus asks; “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” The saint’s response is one of humility and awe as he is struck with blindness and meekly makes his way to Damascus to be healed by Ananias. In his letter to the Corinthians, he says: “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.” Paul is then healed and goes forth and becomes one of the greatest evangelists for the Gospel that the world has ever seen.

And in today’s Gospel, Peter, struck by his own unworthiness after Jesus enters his boat and brings about a miraculous catch of fish, falls at the feet of Jesus and says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And then Jesus calls him: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Peter, Andrew, James, and John respond to this call to discipleship by leaving everything and following Him. Peter, a humble fisherman, goes on to be the Rock upon which Jesus builds his Church.

There’s one more story I want to highlight, but it doesn’t come from the pages of Scripture; it is unfolding right now in our own hearts. It has the same structure of the three stories just mentioned; we encounter God, he calls us, and we respond. How will we respond to God’s presence? We will encounter God in the Eucharist this weekend at Mass. He is the same God who revealed himself to Isaiah the Old Testament prophet, and to Paul the great evangelist, and to Peter the Rock of the Church. If we respond in humility, making God the most important person in our lives, he will lead us and guide us to follow him, and become the saints he’s calling us to be.