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5th Sunday in
Ordinary Time - C (Feb. 7, 2010)
My dear friends, if
we listen, even casually, to today's three readings, it is very
difficult to miss the message. When God's word is proclaimed in our
midst, it is a living word. It is not just something that was spoken
2,000 or 4,000 years ago. It is God speaking now. And the message is
overwhelmingly clear: God is calling us. God is calling us, through
Jesus, to be disciples, to be his followers.
In the first reading, Isaiah was in the temple worshiping and had this
profound experience of the presence of God. In the midst of that
presence, he heard God saying, "Whom shall I send?" He responded, "Send
me, Lord. Here I am. Send me." God called, and Isaiah responded, ready
to go wherever God needed. In the second reading, Paul recounted how
Jesus appeared to so many. One time, 500 people saw Jesus. Then others.
And finally Paul said: “Jesus appeared to me.” Paul could hardly
believe it. He had persecuted the church, and now, suddenly, Jesus was
saying to him, "Follow me."
The message in the Gospel is also very clear. To Peter, James, John and
their companions, Jesus said, "Come, follow me. Be my companions. Be my
disciples." That, then, is what God is saying right now to each one of
us: "Follow me." Last week, when we heard about God calling Jeremiah,
we also heard that Jeremiah was hesitant to respond. Any one of us, I
guess, would be hesitant to say, "Yes, I will follow Jesus wherever."
Jeremiah offered an excuse: "I am too young." God said, "You are not
too young. Don't worry. If I want you and call you, you can do it."
In today's readings, the people who heard God's call offered different
excuses. Isaiah himself first said before accepting God’s call: "I am a
sinner. My lips are unclean. I live among a people whose lips are
unclean. How could I be your prophet? How could I go in your name? I am
a sinner." Paul said the same thing: "I am a sinner. I persecuted the
church. I am the worst of all people. How could God be calling me?"
In today’s gospel reading, Peter fell at Jesus' feet and said: "Lord
leave me, I am a sinner. You don't want to be near me. You don't want
me to be one of your followers." Every one of us, I am sure, would say
the same thing. "Lord, I am not worthy. How could I be your disciple?
How could I be a companion of Jesus?" Now, why do we hesitate and give
different excuses for not listening to Jesus’ call? I think it is
because responding to that call is going to demand changes in our
lives. If we are really going to follow Jesus, then we cannot keep
going along as we have always done. We have to change.
Peter, James and John had to change dramatically. Their whole lives
were about being with their families and being fishermen, which was
their trade. All of a sudden, Jesus said, "Follow me," and they left
everything. They walked away to a different life as Jesus' disciples,
his companions. If we are going to follow Jesus, we are going to have
to change our lives to be faithful to that call. Maybe we are not
called to such a dramatic change as Peter, James, John and the other
disciples, but still we are called to change. If we open ourselves to
God's love and power, God will change us, just as he changed the lives
of the apostles and so many others, and we will be able to follow
Jesus. For those who hesitate, remember what Jesus said to Peter: "Do
not be afraid." God will do what is necessary to help us change, so
that we can say without fear, "Here I am, Lord. Send me." One of the
reasons God calls us is because God wants to sanctify us, to save us.
God is calling us to personal spirituality, personal holiness.
But it is also more than this. God is not just calling us to be
individually, personally saved. Jesus calls us to join his work of
changing the world, of proclaiming the good news. And what is the good
news? Paul said it all: "I preached to you the death and the
resurrection of Jesus." Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus was raised from
the dead, and he lives now in our midst. Death is conquered. We do not
have to be afraid of death, because Jesus was raised from the dead.
Yes, this is the good news that we are supposed to be spreading.
There is more, of course, to the good news. It is also God's unending,
limitless, unconditional love. Jesus loved those who were torturing him
and putting him to death. He loved his enemies. It is the power of
love, the kind of unconditional love that reaches out even to those who
hurt us and who are our enemies, that can change the world. If we
experience that love ourselves, we will be able to spread this message.
Love can change situations of hatred in our families, in our
communities, in our places of work. Love is the only way to change hate
situations wherever we are. Hate for hate will always bring more hate.
Violence for violence will always bring more violence. Love is the
transforming power. This is the good news that Paul tells us. This is
what you must proclaim first of all as you live it in your own life.
You do not have to go a long way geographically to be a disciple of
Jesus. All you have to do is look to the person next to you. Do you
really love this person? Love the people in your own home, in your
workplace, in your neighborhood, in our world, anywhere. This is what
will change everything. This is what it means to be a disciple of
Jesus. The good news is that God loves us without limit. So we are
healed. We are made holy. We are made whole. We can become fully what
God wants us to be, because God loves us into that fullness if we open
ourselves to it. Once we accept that good news, then we can become
disciples of Jesus and spread the message. It will change our family
into a family of love, our parish family into a parish family of love.
Our neighborhoods will reach out to the poor, the homeless and the
hungry. We can even end war in the world. We can do all this if we put
aside our excuses and our fears and accept this call by saying, "Here I
am, Lord. Send me."
This morning, then, as we celebrate the Eucharist, we do hear God
calling us. Accept the good news. Live the good news. Proclaim the good
news. Spread love everywhere. I hope that as we hear that call today,
we will offer no excuse. Do not say, "I am too young. I am a sinner. I
don't have the talents." Hear the call deep in your heart and respond,
"Here I am, Lord. Send me." You will never regret ever having made a
choice for the Lord.
God bless you.
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