What Do Isaiah, Paul, Peter And YOU Have In Common?
2022년 2월 6일What Do Isaiah, Paul, Peter And YOU Have In Common?
< Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time >
You are all called by God! And you all feel unworthy. But guess what? God doesn’t call you because you are worthy. God doesn’t call you because you are holy. God calls you because God created you and God loves you. Consider Isaiah. He states matter-of-factly that in the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord! Naturally Isaiah was terrified. Why? Because no one can see God and live. Worse, Isaiah had unclean lips and came from a people of unclean lips. But then an angel picked up a glowing charcoal from the incense burner and “purified” Isaiah’s lips so he could proclaim the word of God. St. Paul also felt unworthy to be an apostle. After all, until the Risen Christ appeared to him, Paul was arresting Christians. He admitted being the least worthy to be an apostle, but says, “by the grace of God I am what I am.” St. Peter, too, had been fishing hard all night and caught nothing. Then, at Jesus command, Peter lowers his nets and catches so many fish his boat was sinking. His response? “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
Our sinfulness does not scare God away. If anything, God is drawn to us like a doctor to a patient in need of medical attention. God wants us to use our experiences, even the bad ones, to teach other people about God’s mercy. As Mother Teresa was fond of saying, “You are not called to do great things, but rather to do small things with great love.” A smile, a kind word, a small courtesy might be just the blessing people need today to be reminded God still loves them and wants them to be happy. It’s only natural to feel unworthy that God should chose you. But that shouldn’t be an excuse for us to do nothing. And by receiving the body of Christ in the Eucharist, we have the power to say with Isaiah, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”