Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Sunday February 7, 2010

Our worthiness comes from God.

It is not unusual for parishioners considering a formal call to active Christian service as a catechist, sponsor-catechist, lector or eucharistic minister to refrain from acceptance on the grounds that they are not worthy of the call. In my experience this response has rarely been perfunctory or simply a polite refusal. More often than not, it is rooted in a genuine and humble acknowledgment of one’s unworthiness. On the other hand although there are certainly some behaviors that would disqualify a person for public ministry, the criteria for eligibility are broad enough to include human failure and what we might call sins that mark us as less than perfect.

I don’t think any of us in the congregation today are prepared to boast of our saintliness or spiritual prowess. On the contrary, we live in the consciousness of our human frailty and spiritual deficiencies. It may not always be our humility but rather our sense of realism that drives us to this honest confession. When we come into the light of the sun, it doesn’t take long to see the dirt on our face or on our sleeves and the imperfections in the clothing we wear. Even the finest cosmetic treatment cannot hide all the wrinkles! But “by the grace of God, I am what I am.”

In the first reading for this Sunday’s liturgy, Isaiah describes the religious experience that accompanied his call to prophecy. The description of Isaiah’s call is a classic text, full of symbolism and metaphor. It follows the typical pattern of the call to prophetic ministry for all the prophets: the acknowledgment of the awesomeness of God—“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts…” the recognition of one’s unworthiness in the face of God —“I’m doomed! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips…” the insistence of God’s mercy —“Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out….” followed by God’s empowerment — “Whom shall I send, and who will go?” and finally, the acquiescence of the prophet — “And I said, ‘Here am I; sent me!’”

The call of Peter is no less significant. Peter protests: “Lord, I am a sinful man; depart from me!” And the insistent judgment and empowerment of Jesus: ”Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching human beings!”

Paul follows suit, elaborating on the inner dynamism that validates the acceptance of his call to preach in the name of Jesus: “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle…. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and God’s grace toward me has not been wasted…. I worked harder than any of them [the other apostles] thought it was not by my own efforts but by the grace of God that is with me.”

God does not wait until we are perfect to empower us to goodness. In fact, the pursuit of perfection independent of the recognition of God’s empowering grace is the height of pride and arrogance. This was the ancient heresy of Pelagianism. Who do we think we are anyway? “We need to recognize who starts our motor, drives our engine, and keeps the cylinders moving.”

Our life in Christ is a daily opportunity to acknowledge the greatness of God. It is a call to live our humanity to the fullest not for ourselves but for others. It is a call to stewardship, to reach out and touch someone, to contribute to the common good of humanity, a portion of what we have received as gift from God without cost.

As we began with a story, we end with a poetic reflection entitled “Vanity”.

Once in a saintly passion
I cried with desperate grief,
“Ah! Lord! My heart is black with guile,
Of sinners I am chief.”

Then stooped my guardian angel
And whispered from behind,
“Vanity! My little one,
You’re nothing of the kind!”

Our worthiness comes from God through Christ Jesus.

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