FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
9 FEBRUARY 2025
Our
Scripture readings today provide valuable insights into how God calls people
and how they respond. All three
characters are going through the routine of their daily lives. Isaiah is performing his duties as a priest
in the temple. Suddenly, he is given an
extraordinary glimpse of the Lord’s glory.
In the light of that vision, Isaiah realizes that he lacks the absolute
holiness of God. One of the seraphim
takes a burning coal and purifies his lips.
Even though Isaiah remains a human far removed from the perfection of
divinity, he accepts the Lord’s mercy and proclaims the immensity of God’s
power over all of creation as one of the greatest prophets.
Saul is
busy with his mission. A faithful
Pharisee, he is traveling to Damascus to arrest a small group of fellow Jews
who claim that their crucified leader is the promised Messiah and has been
raised from the dead. On his way, the
risen Christ appears to him and asks why he is persecuting him. Blinded by this vision, Saul is led into
Damascus, where he realizes the depth of his spiritual blindness and sin. Baptized into the Church he had been persecuting,
Saint Paul remains grateful for the Lord’s mercy and becomes the greatest
promoter of that Church.
Simon is
busy about his profession: fishing in
the Sea of Galilee. Simon has already
encountered Jesus of Nazareth. He had
been fascinated with this man and invited him to his home. He had witnessed Jesus healing his
mother-in-law of a dangerous fever. Now
he has completed a frustrating night of fishing and is cleaning his nets. When Jesus asks him to use his boat as a
pulpit, he accepts. As a child, I had
realized the benefit of people hearing human speech from a boat. My brother and sister and I were in our
grandparent’s fishing boat complaining about our Dad. Our mother heard it and punished us.
After
teaching, Jesus tells Simon to put out his boat into deep water and lower his
nets for a catch. Simon, the professional
fisherman, refers to Jesus as “master” and sees this request as
ridiculous. But, out of respect for
Jesus, he does it and catches so many fish that both boats are in danger of
sinking. Simon falls to the knees of
Jesus and calls him “Lord.” Aware of the
truth about Jesus, he acknowledges that he is a sinner who did not fully trust
him. Moved by this miracle, he accepts
the invitation of Jesus to become the leader of his Church. In time he will be successful in catching people
to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
As
disciples of Jesus Christ, we must be open to the Lord calling us to deeper
faith in the ordinary events of our lives.
Through our baptism, each of us has a mission. You parents are called to cultivate the faith
lives of your children. Teachers have
the mission of directing students to the person of Jesus Christ. Any of us who engage in management or
business are called to make decisions for the common good instead of our own
selfish interests. Like the three
characters in today’s Scripture readings, we are all flawed individuals who
make bad choices. But, like Simon Peter,
we become more aware of the Lord’s mercy when we acknowledge our sins and
receive the grace to start over.
Like those
three characters, we live in a dangerous, divided, and dark world. In each of our vocations, we need to do what
we can to promote Gospel values and try to make necessary changes in our world. But, we need to be watchful. Especially when we do not succeed, we need to
work with the Lord’s grace to make changes in ourselves. Instead of nursing anger and resentment, we
can be honest about our own failings and be open to the Lord’s mercy in our
lives. When we have the courage to
surrender to the Lord’s power, we can avoid putting those with whom we disagree
on a list of enemies. We can learn to disagree with respect. We can pray for them and trust in the inner
peace and compassion that only God can give.
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