Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 02-10-13, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 02-10-13 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

February 10, 2013

 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1 Is 6:1-2a, 3-8

In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.

They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8

R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.

Reading 2 1 Cor 15:1-11 or 15:3-8, 11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.

or

Brothers and sisters,
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.

Gospel Lk 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

[Salvation]

To Sunday: God of the Call

Tintoretto

 

"Put out into deep water . . ."

 

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.  Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger we shall find comfort and peace.

St. Basil of Caesarea

Is 6: 1-2a, 3-8

1 Cor 15: 1-11

Lk 5: 1-11

Fishing was a popular vacation pass time I remember well from growing up in the Midwest.  We took many family vacations to northern Wisconsin and settled in a resort cabins along one of the many inland lakes found nestled in the wooded low rolling hills of the central states.  Between boating, water skiing, and fishing the summer vacation days were filled.

The fish were plentiful and delicious.  Everything from bluegill, sunfish, northern pike, largemouth bass and walleye, these fresh water fish are common in those lakes. However, the fishing method was vastly different than the fishermen we hear of in the Gospel this Sunday (Lk 5: 1-11).  We used rod and reel with lures or live bait.  They used nets;  large, roped nets that would be thrown out over the water with the hope that when hauled in, many fish would be caught. But something was about to change in their routine lives.

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Lk 5: 4) said Jesus to Simon as he sat in his boat and taught the crowds on the shore of Lake Galilee. It was not a particularly profound statement for many along that shore may have said the same as good fishing advice.  Maybe they knew of a place where the fish were more likely to be found.

But from Jesus it had a deeper meaning; almost an invitation.  And so Simon had two choices – to do what Jesus had requested or to dismiss his advice as coming from a naïve preacher who knew little about the finer points of the fishing trade.

One could hear a certain respect in the voice of Simon as he answered Jesus: “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets . . .” (Lk 5: 5).  Command?  Was it the tone of Jesus’ voice or a deeper awareness in Simon that heard in Jesus’ advice a word to obey? 

Despite his own experience of failed fishing all night long, Simon does what Jesus suggests and orders the nets to be thrown over the water along the boat and to sink into the dark waves. “I’ll show him he’s wrong just to prove my point.  What does this preacher know about fishing anyway?” Simon may have thought. But then a new life began for Simon and his fishing buddies.

So many fish were caught in the nets where Jesus had ordered that the boats were near sinking.  The reaction of Simon? “. . . he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’” (Lk 5: 8). Simon recognizes in Jesus that he wasn’t dealing with just any preacher, however well meaning. This was someone whose command brought results and Simon recognized his own unworthiness in the presence of such greatness. This act of faith would serve Simon well despite his occasional failings.  Jesus would not forget Simon’s (Peter) insight from the beginning as to who he was. This preacher would be the God without limits who gives in abundance if we only follow his call.

As we approach this Sunday, so close to our holy season of Lent, where may our Lord be inviting us to “put out into deep water” and you find yourself resisting the suggestion – or command?

Fishing is slow going.  One never knows whether a catch will be found or we might be “hard at it all night” with nothing to show.  Is that time to give up? We turn to prayer but do we truly believe that nothing is impossible with God or do we bargain over or limit the possibilities? “Master, we’ve been hard at it all night long . . .”

In the first reading from Isaiah 6 the prophet is eager to answer the invitation of the Lord: “Here I am, send me!” No hesitation in throwing out his net. No bargain or limit to what Isaiah responds.  He’s ready to go.   

Whenever we hear the invitation of the Spirit, the great saints tell us to stop what we are doing and put out into deep water.  Have you ever had the urge to pray and just said, “I’m too busy right now.”  Has someone invited you to read a particular spiritual book or look up a certain scripture passage to pray over and you never did so? Has the call to service to assist at a food bank, or help to tutor children in school, or to make amends with someone who has hurt you found an eager response on your part?

It is a God without limits who calls us to trust but waits patiently for our response. Why do we wait?

More to come . . .

Fr. Tim

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

God initiates. Man responds. Jesus calls. Man answers.

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, February 10, 2013 | Carl E. Olson

Readings:

Is 6:1-2a, 3-8
Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
1 Cor 15:1-11 or 15:3-8
Lk 5:1-11

God initiates. Man responds. Jesus calls. Man answers.

Such is the dynamic relationship at the heart of salvation history and at the center of human existence. “Through an utterly free decision,” the Catechism explains, “God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men.” Today’s readings offer a challenging view of God’s revelation of Himself, His call to specific men, and His desire for all Christians to be “fishers of men.” 

Let’s take a brief look at three men caught up in the divine drama: the prophet Isaiah, the apostle Paul, and Peter, the head of the Apostles and the first Pope. In many respects they were quite different from one another. Isaiah was likely from an upper-class family, was apparently well educated, and was married to a prophetess (Isa 8:3). Paul was also highly educated, the prize student of the great rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), and, prior to his conversion on the Damascus Road, a fervent enemy of the budding Church. Peter was certainly fervent as well, but was a fisherman and a blue-collar businessman. Yet, however different they were from one another, each man was called, in dramatic and personal fashion, to proclaim the Word of God in difficult, harrowing circumstances. 

Some seven centuries prior to Jesus and the apostles, the prophet Isaiah had a dazzling vision of the throne room of the Lord of hosts. Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, initiated contact with the prophet and called him to the task of proclaiming the glory of God and exhorting Israel and Judah to repent of their sins. Isaiah recognized and confessed his own sinful state: “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips…”

As the Catechism says so well, “Faced with God’s fascinating and mysterious presence, man discovers his own insignificance” (CCC 208). When man sees himself in the light of God’s holiness and recognizes his desperate plight, he can then admit his sinful state and be given the grace needed for the work of God. “See,” Isaiah was told by the seraphim, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Paul was also transformed and purified by a heavenly vision. Having held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen, the first martyr, the young Saul was intent on persecuting the Church in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas (Acts 7:58; 8:1-3). Then, while traveling to Damascus in search of more Christians to arrest, “a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him” (Acts 9:3). As he wrote to the church in Corinth, in today’s Epistle, “Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Whereas Isaiah’s sinful lips were purified by fire, Paul’s blinded eyes were healed by the prayer and hands of Ananias, a disciple of Jesus Christ.  

Paul eventually spent time with Peter (cf. Gal 1:18), whose life contained more than a few instances of dramatic response to God’s call. Luke’s account of the miraculous catch of fish sets the stage for one such moment; it begins with the note that the crowds following Jesus were eagerly “listening to the word of God.” Some of the early Church Fathers, such as Ambrose and Augustine, saw this event as both historical and metaphorical: the boat of Peter represents the Church in history, going forth to catch men through the guidance of Christ, the head of the Church. Peter, who would eventually be the Vicar of Christ (Matt 16:16-18), accepted by faith the command of Jesus. Upon witnessing the miracle he responded with the same humility as Isaiah and Paul: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Yet Jesus does not ask only Peter and the apostles to be fishers of men; He asks it of every son and daughter of God. 

God is calling. How will we answer? Jesus tells us to cast our nets. Will we?

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the February 4, 2007, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Teaching the Thickheaded

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for revealing your tender, merciful, Sacred Heart to us. Your Heart gives me the confidence to turn back to you as many times as I fall. I know that I hurt you the most when I neglect to trust in your infinite love for me. And so now in this meditation, good and kind Jesus, I intend to rest in your love.

Petition: Lord, give me faith so I can be a docile instrument in your great work of saving souls.

1. Jesus Sees Our Hearts: In today’s Gospel we see Our Lord presented as a wonderful teacher of souls. First, Christ is a teacher to the multitude whose hearts were opened to his teaching by his marvelous miracles. He is also more subtly presented as a teacher to Saint Peter, whom he would later choose to lead his Church. His first lesson to Peter, besides the one Peter hears Jesus preach from his boat, is the very personal message of his worth in Christ’s eyes. Jesus provides a miracle just for Peter—not to heal him of some infirmity, but to demonstrate Christ’s overflowing love for him. He speaks loudly through his action of the miraculous catch. Whether through want or abundance, health or infirmity, am I able to discern Our Lord’s lessons for me in my life? Am I open to his lessons of love?

2. From the Depths of Our Faith: Our Lord implemented a deeper lesson plan with Peter in order to prepare him for his great mission of being the first pope. Peter would need to move to a more supernatural level if Christ were to entrust him with the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Testing his generosity, Christ commandeered Peter’s boat in order to teach the crowds gathered at the shore. Then Jesus led Peter to make an act of faith: he asked him to set out into the deep and drop his nets at a time when it didn’t appear opportune to fish. If Peter were to answer the supernatural call to be a fisher of men, he would have to depend on Our Lord’s working of miracles. Only by the grace of Christ is God able to redeem what humanly seems unsalvageable.

3. A Lesson of Mercy: Mercy is God’s divine method of teaching: by showing mercy to sinners, Christ teaches us important lessons. Peter’s intentions are discovered and revealed in his confession at the shore. Peter confesses his lack of faith despite his “obedience” to Our Lord’s command to cast out into the deep. Our Lord taught Peter a great lesson when he blessed Peter’s feeble and meager faith with a contrastingly abundant catch of fish. Does my faith in God show in my actions? Am I willing to respond generously in the work of the New Evangelization?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me with the grace of your mercy to accept  what seems unfeasible in human terms. Help me to accept your call for me to work in establishing a civilization of love in today’s world. Help me Lord, to be always faithful to your friendship, sincere in my faith, and diligent in service to you and my neighbors in need.

Resolution: Today I will pray and make a sacrifice to Our Lord so that he sends generous and holy vocations to the Church, especially where she needs them the most.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Sunday, February 10, 2013 >>

Fifth Sunday Ordinary Time

Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
View Readings

Psalm 138:1-5, 7-8
Luke 5:1-11

HE TOUCHED ME

"Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." —Isaiah 6:7

 

We properly recognize our sinfulness not by comparing ourselves to others, but by truthfully realizing Who God is, how holy and majestic He is, and especially by comparing ourselves to His holiness.

Each of today's readings all have in common a man who recognized his sinfulness and unworthiness before God. They also have in common a man who additionally recognized that God was calling him to His service. Isaiah, Paul, and Peter all encountered the Lord personally with a profound experience of the awesome power of God (Is 6:1ff; Acts 9:3ff; Lk 5:5ff). Each man allowed God to cleanse him and make him worthy to serve Him. They responded with a deep commitment to the Lord and with steadfast perseverance for the rest of their lives.

God knows we are sinful. That is why He sent us a Savior, Jesus, to save us from our sins. He knows we are sinful and unworthy, but in His wisdom, He has called us anyway. Jesus takes away our sin. He touches our lips, most particularly in the Eucharist, and cleanses us. He commands us: "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men" (Lk 5:10). Even though we are unworthy, His grace in us will not be ineffective (2 Cor 12:10).

God doesn't want us to languish in our feelings of unworthiness. Rather, He wants us to jump into the deep ocean of His grace (Lk 5:4), abandoning ourselves into His mercy and His service. Surrender your life to Jesus. Give Him your sins and your life.

 

Prayer: Father, I will go wherever You send me.

Promise: "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men." —Lk 5:10

Praise: Praise the risen Jesus, Who bears the marks of His death as a sign of His great love for us.

[Salvation]

 

Pray for an end to the Culture of Death in America!