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Fifth Sunday – Year C – Ordinary Time
Readings: Isa 6:1-2a, 3-8; I Cor 15:1-11; Lk 5:1-11.
1/ First Reading: NAB Isaiah 6:1 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. 2 Seraphim were stationed above; 3 “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!” they cried one to the other. “All the earth is filled with his glory!” 4 At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” 8 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!”
2/ Second Reading: NAB 1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2 Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 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; 4 that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; 5 that he appeared to Kephas, then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 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. 11 Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
3/ Gospel: NAB Luke 5:1 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” 9 For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, 10 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.” 11 When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
Written by: Fr. Anthony Tien M. Dinh, O.P.
I. THEME: God invites people to co-operate with Him in bringing salvation to all human beings.
God is so powerful and wondrously controls everything. He can do all things, but wants to use people to bring salvation to all people. He calls people in different situations and gives them the mission to bring salvation to others by different ways. Those who are called must have a deep experience with God before they can respond to His invitation. They must feel God’s love for them, their imperfection, God’s holiness, the importance and urgency of the salvation.
Today readings illustrated the callings of some people by God to cooperate with Him in bringing salvation to all men. In the first reading, God called Isaiah when he attended the holy liturgy in the temple of Jerusalem. When he saw God’s glory and holiness, he recognized his impurity; but the seraphim, God’s angel, purified his mouth by a glowing ember, taken from the altar before he could volunteer to be sent to the Israelites. In the second reading, Paul recited his apostolic vocation when Christ called and gave him the mission to preach the Gospel for the Gentiles. He was called when he was on the way to persecute the faithful in Damascus; Christ appeared to him after he was fell from his horse and blinded. Then, he sent him to Ananias who opened his eyes, trained and gave him the mission to preach the Gospel. Paul felt God’s love for him and his imperfection; he also knew that God’s grace filled up his imperfection and helped his mission to be successful. In the Gospel, Jesus prepared Peter’s mind by let him see how people were thirsting to hear the Gospel’s messages and the wonderful catching of fish. Peter felt that he is a sinner and asked Jesus to avoid him; but he called and trained him to be the fisher of human souls.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: Isaiah’s prophetic vocation
1.1/ Isaiah’s background: He was a citizen of the Judahite kingdom, married and had at least two sons. He lived in a very difficult period of the nation. When king Uzziah died, it was the end of the glorious period of Judah and begins the difficult reigns of kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He witnessed the destruction of the Israel’s kingdom in the hands of the Assyrian king on 721 B.C., and the declining of religion and morality in both kings and people of Judah leading to the destruction of this kingdom into the hands of the Babylonian king later on (about 587 B.C.). Today passage reported a vision which happened in the temple and beginning Isaiah’s prophetic mission.
1.2/ Isaiah’s experience of God: God let him see His glory and holiness. Isaiah reported the vision as followed, “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; “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!” they cried one to the other. “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.” The sign of smoking reminded him about God’s presence in the temple as the Israelites had experiences about the column of cloud during their forty years of wandering in the desert.
When he recognized God’s holiness, he also recognized his impurity and exclaimed, “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!” The Jewish tradition believes that no one sees God and be alive. The Isaiah’s case is special because God sent His angel to purify his impurity as he reported, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
1.3/ Isaiah volunteered to be sent out: The environment which Isaiah witnessed is God’s palace with His angels. That is why He asked for their opinion: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” He didn’t directly call Isaiah; but Isaiah was urged to respond. Isaiah said to God: “Here I am; send me!” The reason for this urge might be Isaiah’s witness of God’s glory and holiness or be purified by the seraphim. When people felt God’s love and goodness, they want to respond by proclaim this love for all people.
2/ Reading II: Christ chose Paul to be the apostle for the Gentiles.
2.1/ Paul’s background: He is a Pharisee and very ardent of protecting the law. He was born in Tarsus, Cicilia province and making tents for his living. He was on the way to persecute those who believed in Christ. The reason for his persecution is that he believed as many Jews do, only the Jews can be worthy of salvation by carefully keeping of the law which handed to him by his forefathers. He didn’t directly hear Jesus’ teachings, but through others’ accusation. He saw Jesus and his believers as the threat for Judaism’s faith.
But the event of encountering Christ on the way to Damascus has changed Paul’s whole life. He was felt from his horse by a very strong light from heaven, became blind and heard the Christ’s voice which affirmed that “He is the one whom Paul was persecuting.” He also forewarned Paul: “It is hard for you to kick against the goad” (Act 26:14b). After that, he was sent to Ananias, Christ’s disciple, to be healed and to receive the mission of preaching the Gospel, especially for the Gentiles.
2.2/ Paul’s experience: When reflected on the falling event, Paul felt that he is unworthy of Christ’s love. First of all, he was Christ’s enemy because he was persecuting those who believe in him. Not only Christ didn’t kill him but also healed his physical and spiritual blindness. Christ let him know the truth about many God’s mysteries which he didn’t know before that event. Next, he granted him the priviledge to be his apostle. Paul confesed: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Lastly, he gave him so many graces to fulfill his mission, as he declared: “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.”
2.3/ Paul carried out his apostolic mission: In Paul’s journey of preaching the Gospel, Paul met much opposition, both from the Jews and the faithful. The faithful couldn’t believe Paul, an ardent persecutor, to be a preacher of the Gospel. Some jealous leaders accused Paul of spreading the wrong faith because he didn’t belong to Christ’s apostles and therefore, couldn’t fathom Christ’s teaching. In today passage, Paul highlighted some important beliefs which all faithful must believe, “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 Kephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he 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.” All witnessed that Christ died and resurrected. And Paul concluded, “Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
3/ Gospel: Jesus called Peter to be the fisher of human souls.
3.1/ Peter’s background: He was born and raised at Bethsaida and fishing on the Galilee. According to today passage, Jesus wanted him to witness two important things.
(1) People are thirsting to hear the Good News: Since the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. He was 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. Sitting on the boat with Jesus, Peter witnessed how people were thirsting for Jesus’ words; but he never dreams that a fisher like him can become a preacher of the Gospel.
(2) Jesus let Peter have a miraculous catch: 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.” He might think with his experience of catching fish many years, he shall show Jesus’ command is useless; but Jesus showed Peter his divine power. When Peter 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 they were in danger of sinking.”
3.2/ Peter’s experience: Peter recognized his sinfulness and Jesus’ power. Jesus had power not only in preaching of the Gospel but also on the sea, which even an experienced fisherman like him worked all night long and caught nothing. Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
3.3/ Peter gave up everything to follow Christ: Then, “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.” When Jesus called Peter to follow him, he wanted Peter to use his experience in catching fish to apply on the preaching of the Gospel. Fishing requires patience and a habit of waking up early. The fisherman must know at what time fish are looking for food and only catch them at that time. The conquering of human soul is similar, a preaching must know not only the Gospel’s content but also human psychology, and be patience to converse many stubborn people.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– All of us are invited by God to cooperate with Him in bringing salvation for ourselves and others.
– We aren’t worthy of God’s love, invitation and salvation; but we shouldn’t be worry because God shall fill us up with His grace.
– We should ardently respond to God’s call and try the best to fulfill His given mission. Difficulties shall certainly happen, but God’s grace shall help us to overcome all of them.