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Home Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. Feb 7, 2010 - Sunday Meditation (Will You Answer His Call?)
Feb 7, 2010 - Sunday Meditation (Will You Answer His Call?) PDF Print E-mail
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Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D.
Written by Bobot Apit   
Saturday, 06 February 2010 00:18

 

The sinner is not banished, just purged for action. Unworthiness cannot be used as an excuse to keep to safe old ways. Isaiah is not allowed to stay in the temple and Peter cannot remain on the shore. They are both sent out into the sinful world. God calls us not to just savour his holiness in the safety of the familiar but he sends us out into the deep, into the unknown, to make his glory manifest to a hostile world. Isaiah is sent to preach justice to an unrepentant Israel and Simon is sent to preach the Gospel to a society where many felt lost and set apart from the holiness of God.

 

 

 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Isaiah 6:1-8

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

 

L uke 5:1-11 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes'aret. (2) And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. (3) Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. (4) And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." (5) And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." (6) And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, (7) they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. (8) But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (9) For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; (10) and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb'edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth, you will be catching men." (11) And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

 

 

 

Meditation by David Sanders O.P.

 

Called to Holiness

 

 

 

We often pigeon-hole people. We are certain we know them and we fix their identity. We treat them more like things than people. Then suddenly we see in them a new dimension, a surprising depth, a different person.

 

And if we do this to people we do it even more to God. We may treat him as an impersonal deity, an abstract entity, something that can be manipulated by our religious formulas. But the God of the Bible whom we worship is a personal God who cannot be pinned down or easily defined. God is other, mysterious, different - that is what makes him holy. But where do we encounter this holy God?

 

Isaiah tells us that he encountered this holy God in the temple, he saw him through the smoke of incense in the midst of the liturgy. He had a vision of the all-holy God seated upon his heavenly throne and surrounded by the worshipping seraphs. And this is how many people see the holiness of God: in a sacred place, served by priests, and cut off from the outside world. And many want to keep it that way. Holiness should be kept safe in its own sacred world and not be allowed to interfere with the secular.

 

But when we come to Luke's Gospel today, the Holy One of God has come out of church and is there in the workplace. Jesus is teaching from a fisherman's boat and then commanding Simon to put out into the deep and to begin fishing again. In fact we encounter the holy God when he comes to where we are actually living our lives - to the priestly Isaiah, it is in the temple and to Simon the fisherman, it is among his nets.

 

But notice in both cases the ordinary, familiar world is broken open. The sacred boundaries cannot confine the transcendent presence of the holy God in the temple ritual for as the angelic hosts assert 'His glory fills the whole earth'. Isaiah is seized by this new fascinating presence he had not expected to encounter.

 

And Simon no doubt had paid his regular visits to the Temple in Jerusalem and had been awestruck by the sacred atmosphere there. Now he was back in a world where he was in control. He knew at least when it was a good time to catch fish. But he had been fascinated by the words of this teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, as he preached to the crowds from Simon's own boat. And, like Mary before him, he consented to what seemed the impossible. He obeyed the word to put out into the deep and fish when his own senses told him to expect nothing. The huge catch of fish, almost bursting the nets, which followed was for him a sign of the presence of the holy God in Jesus. 'Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man'

 

But the call of the holy God does not conform to what we expect. The sinner is not banished, just purged for action. Unworthiness cannot be used as an excuse to keep to safe old ways. Isaiah is not allowed to stay in the temple and Peter cannot remain on the shore. They are both sent out into the sinful world. God calls us not to just savour his holiness in the safety of the familiar but he sends us out into the deep, into the unknown, to make his glory manifest to a hostile world. Isaiah is sent to preach justice to an unrepentant Israel and Simon is sent to preach the Gospel to a society where many felt lost and set apart from the holiness of God.

 

God calls the prophets and apostles in dramatic ways but he also calls each of one of us. He breaks open our familiar defences and transcends our limited expectations. We cannot plead our sinfulness as an excuse not to obey his word. He invites us to put out into the deep wherever we are. And he goes on calling us even when we think we are safe. Only by responding to his call and encountering his holy presence we will finally discover the true identity for which he created us.

 

 

 

Supplementary Meditation

 

Searching for God and Finding Him

 

 

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. – Luke 19:10

 

T he story of Zacchaeus is a remarkable one. Jesus was passing through Jericho one day and was surrounded by people who were trying to catch a glimpse of the Miracle Worker! One man who was too short to see over the crowds ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree beside the road. He clung to the strong branches of that enormous tree and watched for Jesus.

 

Zacchaeus was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business. But he was a traitor to his own people—a Jew who surrendered his patriotism by selling out to the Romans. Zacchaeus thought that money would give him power and that power would give him self-confidence.

 

So why did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus? To collect money? No! Zacchaeus was searching for self-confidence, which is really a hunger for God. Only God can satisfy. Money, power, following the crowd—none of these provide the deep satisfaction that comes from putting ourselves in a position where we find God. That's why Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree! He wanted to be in a place where he and God could meet.

 

Lord Jesus, today I can live with confident assurance knowing that when I search for you, I will find you.

 

 
For meditation/readings of the previous days/months , please click any of the following links:

 
 
Daily Mass and Gospel Meditation Broadcast (Tagalog) thru DWXI (5am Phil Time), pls click this link:  http://www.eradioportal.com/index.php?p=2&aid=1&sid=62#STS=g1jais7y.zk6

 
GOD BLESS US ALL!
O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
 

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