Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings for Mass
First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
Second Reading: First Corinthians 15:1-11 or 15:3-8, 11
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
The Gospel of Luke set the theme for the liturgical year with a strong endorsement of a ministry of liberation (4:14-21). And, throughout the Gospel, Luke sets Jesus off on a journey to Jerusalem, spreading the Good News of Liberation in word, in relationship, and in action.
These first three weeks that the Liturgy employs the Gospel of Luke have a missionary and prophetic aspect to them.
“Missionary” comes from the Latin word meaning “Send”; “Prophecy” from two Greek words meaning to “Speak Out”. The first week Jesus announces the Good News of Liberation; the second week, we are called to “speak out”; and the third we consider what it means to be sent. Clearly, the Good News of Liberation is not designed to be private or hidden – with Christ, it is to be spoken out clearly and forcefully to all.
In the first reading of today's liturgy, Isaiah, having experienced the holiness of God, acknowledged that he was a "man of unclean lips." Then the angel purified Isaiah's lips with a burning ember, and Isaiah said, "Here I am, Lord, send me."
Simon had a similar experience in the Gospel. The holiness of God was experienced in Christ as a great catch of fish, after they had been fishing all day and had not caught a thing. And Simon responded, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Jesus touched Simon with words of encouragement and missioned him to be "catching men".
The readings put me in mind of the movie "The Blues Brother", and how the character played by John Belushi was motivated because he was on a "mission from God". As irreverant as that movie might have been, it does give a lasting impression of the "press" of the mission. Being sent to do something has a special importance about it. And being sent after having an experience of conversion based on a glimpse of the holiness of God has an even special urgency.
As a Church, we sometimes have the attitude, "let someone else do it." We have our missionary orders, and we generously contribute to their effort, so perhaps that's enough. (Part of the reason for this in the Catholic Church is that we have been "mistrained" to leave ministry to the clergy and the nuns.)
As baptized Christians, sharing in the Ministry of Liberation that Christ announced in the Gospel of Luke a couple of weeks ago, we are sent. We wake up every day with a sense of mission.
I recall seeing an interview with the Jesuit priest who heard the news of the martyrdom of the Jesuits in El Salvador. He realized that someone had to go replace them, and that someone was him. He described this realization like a "hardball pitched hard and fast right down the middle of the plate." He had neither the time nor the need to go through a process of decision making or discernment. At that moment, he was sent, and he went into that situation of great terror and great opportunity to minister.
And so we look around at the world we live in. Everywhere we perceive challenge and opportunity: in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, in our communities, maybe even in our own families. And who is being sent?? -- "Here I am, Lord -- Send Me!!"
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