Fifth Sunday of the Year February 06, 2022
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
The story was about a farmer who lived in Africa and through
a visitor became tremendously excited about looking for diamonds. Diamonds were
already discovered in abundance on the African continent and this farmer got so
excited about the idea of millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds that he sold
his farm to head out to the diamond line. He wandered all over the continent,
as the years slipped by, constantly searching for diamonds, wealth, which he
never found. Eventually, he went completely broke and threw himself into a
river, and drowned. Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an
unusual-looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle
as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and in viewing the rock practically
went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner of the farm that the
funny-looking rock on his mantle was about the biggest diamond that had ever
been found. The new owner of the farm said, "Heck, the whole farm is
covered with them" - and sure enough it was. The farm turned out to be the
Kimberly Diamond Mine...the richest the world has ever known. The original
farmer was literally standing on "Acres of Diamonds" until he sold
his farm.
The first reading is on the call of Isaiah, the second on
the call of Paul, and the Gospel on the call of Peter and his coworkers. How
did these people feel when they realized that they were in the presence of God.
They all felt unworthy of God. Isaiah said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a
man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips!” (Isaiah 6:5).
Paul felt himself unfit to be called an apostle, because he persecuted the
church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:9). And Peter fell down at Jesus' feet and
said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 15:8). Initial
feeling of personal unworthiness could be a sign that a soul has seen God. That
is why humility is said to be the first and primary virtue in authentic
spirituality. The feeling of personal worthiness and competence, not to talk of
the feeling of self-righteousness and spiritual superiority, could be a sign
that the soul has neither seen nor known God.
When the soul confesses its sinfulness and inadequacy before
God, God reaches out and absolves the sinner and renders him or her competent
to serve Him. In the case of Isaiah, one of the seraphs touched his lips with a
burning coal taken from the altar of the temple and said to him, “Now that this
has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out” (v.
7). In the case of Simon Peter, Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; from now
on you will be catching people” (v. 10). We see that their qualification for
the work of God does not come from them but from God. It is not their personal
achievement; it is God's grace. That is why Paul could say, “But by the grace
of God I am what I am” (v. 10).
In the gospel passage, we see that there is the call to
discipleship or the mission. To be a disciple is basically to be a follower of
the master, understand his life and teaching and make it personal. The disciple
learns from the master all he can teach and his very life expresses this by
putting all the knowledge into practice.
In this sense, we too are called to be disciples of Jesus. We transmit to others what Jesus is to us. That
is the mission of the disciple. Prophet
Isaiah once he is cleansed by the divine presence has the mission. He responds
to God and says here am I ready to do your will. We have Paul, not particularly known for his
modesty, says: "I am the least of the apostles... I hardly deserve the
name apostle." Yet he knows his mission. He immediately starts proclaiming
that Jesus is Lord. Peter and his companions too are chosen now to be the
disciples and apostles and given the mission: from now on you will be fishers
of me. We are not certain whether they understood their mission, but they leave
everything and prefer to be the disciples of Jesus.
The Lord invites us in our own context. He invites us to
follow him and to be his messengers. All of us have the desire to follow the
Lord in our own way. We need to remember that the Lord wants us to be his messengers
in the place where we are.
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