5th Sunday of the Year – February 7, 2016

There's a wonderful story of a tightrope walker, who was challenged to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls. Everything was in place. There were huge steel struts on either side of the canyon and a strong, steel tightrope. There were television cameras, reporters and a massive crowd. But there was no safety net. The tightrope walker appeared with a wheelbarrow, which he had decided to push in front of him across the rope. The crowd cheered him on, although some begged him not to make this foolish attempt. One voice in the crowd was more vociferous than the rest: "Go on! You can do it! I know you can! Don't listen to these pessimists. I have complete faith in you." The tightrope walker turned to the speaker and asked, "You have faith in me? You're certain? You know I can do it?" The speaker emerged from the crowd and nodded. "I'm absolutely certain. I have no doubts at all. You can do it!" "OK," said the tightrope walker. "Hop into my wheelbarrow. I'll wheel you across!" Amazingly, the speaker climbed into the wheelbarrow. And the tightrope walker wheeled him safely across to the other side. What incredible, courageous, foolhardy faith! Today’s gospel describes Peter's leap to a much deeper and stronger faith in Jesus and His ministry through Jesus’ response to Peter’s trusting obedience, His gift of a miraculous haul of fish at the Lake of Gennesaret.

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is God's call and people's response.  Today’s readings teach us that Christian spirituality is discipleship, which means a positive response to God’s call. It has three steps: 1) The revelation: The miraculous, catch of fish described in today’s gospel was a revelation of Jesus’ identity as the One sent from God 2) The recognition and confession of one’s unworthiness and inadequacy: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  3) The word of reassurance from Jesus and a call to share in his life-giving mission.  Today’s readings are “epiphany-call stories” which tell us that God has His own criteria for selecting people to be prophets and ministers.  Presenting the special calls, or vocations, of Isaiah, Paul and Peter as life-changing events, the readings challenge us to examine our own personal calls to conversion and discipleship. When faced with the awesome power of God, Isaiah, Paul, and Peter are all struck dumb by a sense of their own unworthiness.  Peter in today’s gospel and Isaiah in the first reading express their unworthiness to be in the presence of God’s great holiness, and Peter and Isaiah both immediately receive their divine calls. Today’s  second reading describes the call of another great apostle, Paul, who judges himself to be unworthy of the name or the call as he was a former persecutor of the Christians. It was by giving these three men a strong conviction of their unworthiness and of their need for total dependence on His grace that God prepared them for their missions. The calls of these various ministers of God are set before us so that we can reassess our own call from God and our response. The Second Vatican Council teaches that we are all called to ministry by virtue of our baptism into Jesus Christ.

First reading, Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8: In the late eighth century BC, God's people in the Promised Land had become divided into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah. Among outside hostile forces, Assyria was the dominant power in the region. A fourth nation, Syria, was also vying for power, and trying to recruit Israel to support its ambitions.   The kings of Israel and Judah started cooperating in political schemes to insure their nations’ safety, instead of relying faithfully on the Lord God to sustain them. This was the situation in which Isaiah received God’s mission to speak God’s word to the kings and people of Judah and Israel. Yahweh permitted Isaiah to experience His magnificence in a vision in the Temple of Jerusalem.  Experiencing the glory of God, Isaiah at once confessed his unworthiness, calling out, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.” In the presence of God’s holiness, Isaiah became painfully aware of his own sinful human nature. However, when cleansed by God he was ready for His ministry:  "Here I am. Send me!" God gave him the courage to speak His word, interpret His will, and call His people and their leaders to repent and return to God’s ways.

Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11: Some Corinthian Christians questioned Paul's authority and disputed the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Paul silenced them by presenting the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Then he recounted the story of how he had been chosen to be an apostle to the Gentiles. But Paul confessed his unworthiness to be an apostle because of his former persecution of Christians and gave the full credit to God for his call to the ministry:  "By the grace of God I am what I am.”  That is, it was only by the grace of God that Paul was claiming the designation of "apostle" and only by that authority that he proclaimed the Gospel, toiling harder than the other apostles. He reminded the Corinthians that he had already passed on to them the traditional confession of faith about Jesus’ death and resurrection which he had received personally from Christ Himself. Hence, the Corinthians should not doubt his teaching about the resurrection, lest they forfeit salvation and wind up having believed in vain. A real faith not only accepts the content of God's message but involves a total surrender of one's self and all one has into God's hands. Our response to God’s grace must   be like that of Paul.

 Exegesis: Epiphany on the sea: The story of the miraculous catch of fish described in today’s gospel is similar to the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus recounted in John 21: 4-14.   In both accounts, the apostles at first fail to recognize who Jesus is, then receive a revelation of his true identity. This prompts a full confession of faith from Simon Peter to which Jesus responds by commissioning him as the representative of the disciples.  In this sense, both narratives are Epiphanies in which Jesus reveals himself to the world as the messiah —for he does what only God can do.  The point of this story lies, not in the miraculous catch, but in the confession of Peter and his commissioning by Jesus.  

 The fishermen and fishing: The scene is the Sea of Galilee (Gennesaret in Greek and Tiberias in Latin). This body of water is thirteen miles long and seven and a half miles wide.  In Jesus’ time, there were ten prosperous towns situated around the lake. Most of the people residing in them made their living from the waters in front of them. Thus, one gets the idea of how rich the lake was in fish. The Sea of Galilee was the site of many manifestations of Jesus’ divine power.  In the incident in today's gospel, Jesus preached from Peter's boat to a large crowd jammed together at the edge of the water. When the teaching had ended, Jesus told Peter to pull out into deeper water for a catch of fish.  In matters of fishing, Peter was an expert, while Jesus was only a carpenter.  Hence Peter, perhaps  not wanting Jesus to look foolish, explained, "Master, we have worked hard all night long, caught nothing." Peter might have added that   fish come to the surface in the Sea of Galilee only at night, or that the presence and noise of people would frighten the remaining fish away.   Instead he said, “Nevertheless, if You wish it, I will lower the nets.”

 Hope against hope:  That declaration of trust was what made the miracle that followed possible. We may assume that Jesus smiled a little, indicating that he understood Peter’s point and still wanted the fisherman to take the boat out into deeper water.  So Peter obeyed.   This time, however, instead of pulling up an empty net, Peter and Andrew found the net was filled to bursting point, and they had to ask the help of their partners, Zebedee’s sons James and John,   to help them bring in the catch.   Simon Peter understood the message very quickly. Confronted by the size of the catch, he recognized the presence of God before him and became convinced of his own pride and self-centeredness, of his sinfulness, that is. We find the same response in all the three readings today. Isaiah, seeing the glory of God in his vision, says, "What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips... and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts." Paul, not particularly known for his modesty, says, "I am the least of the apostles... I hardly deserve the name apostle." Peter begs Jesus to go away. His simple confession --“Leave me Lord. I am a sinful man.”-- marks a turning point in his life, and becomes the model for our response to Jesus.  Jesus seized the opportunity to proclaim Peter's mission, a call Peter was able to receive because he had seen the tremendous power of God.     Thus Peter became the first person in the Gospel to acknowledge his sinfulness.   He is also the first apostle to be called by Jesus. Today’s Gospel concludes with an inspiring image of commitment: “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11). 

The abundance miracle: The miraculous catch of fish is a miracle of abundance and resembles other "abundance" miracles such as the sending of  manna to Israel in the wilderness (Exod 16),  the widow’s never-empty meal and oil jugs (1 Kings 17:8-16), the necessary supply of oil for the lamps for  the rededication ceremony of the  Temple (2 Kings 4:1-7), and Elisha's feeding of a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread (2 Kings 4:42-44).  Later in this same Gospel, we will see Jesus feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish (9:12-17).  The Gospel of John reports another abundance miracle, the wine Jesus supplied at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11).     All these "abundance" miracles have two common characteristics:  (1) they meet human needs and (2) they demonstrate God's power.  The spiritual outcome of this particular miracle was that the disciples "left everything and followed [Jesus]" (v. 11).

 Dimensions of discipleship: The gospel reading today displays the three dimensions of discipleship:  (1) the recognition of the power of Jesus, (2) the response of confession, and (3) the assurance of success when we follow God’s word. Peter's commission is one which is repeated often in the New Testament (Lk 9: 20, 22:32; Jn 21: 1ff; Matt 16: 16ff).   Peter and the other disciples were given the privilege of sharing in Christ's work of gathering people to God. As they shared in gathering the fish, so now they would share in gathering "lost" human beings. Simon’s response was similar to the responses made in other human encounters with God seen in the Old Testament. As he stood before the burning bush, Moses confessed his disqualifications for leadership, particularly his inability to speak well.   (Ex 3:11-4:17, esp. 4:10).  Later in the Bible, when God came to Solomon in a dream, Solomon declared that he was not wise enough to govern God’s people and asked for an “understanding heart” (1 Kg 3:7-9).   Likewise, when God called Jeremiah, the prophet recognized the inadequacy of his youth to take on this mission (Jer 1:6).

Life Messages: 1) We need to pray that our encounters with the holiness of God may lead us to recognize our sinfulness. The good news of today’s gospel is that our sinfulness -- our pride and self-centeredness – does not repel God. Our God is a God who gives sinners a new start.   It is important that we acknowledge our sinfulness.  Our response must be modeled on that of the tax collector in the parable:   "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13). The recognition of our inadequacy and sin is necessary for us, if we are to be willing and able to receive transformation through God’s grace. Isaiah, Paul, and Peter teach us that even the greatest among us stand in need of conversion. God, Who calls us and commissions us for His service, wants us to realize His presence everywhere and in everyone, to repent of our sins and to remain in readiness to speak and act for Him in our life-circumstances as He shall direct.

2) We need to teach and practice expressions of reverence for the Lord. Today’s world desperately needs a "revival of reverence."  We need both to recognize God as God and to express that reverence for God through appropriate bodily gestures.  For example, when we come into church, we enter the presence of Jesus dwelling in the tabernacle. We need to remember that this is His house, a part of heaven, and we need to express that remembrance by making a deep bow toward the tabernacle, or, if we are able to kneel, by genuflecting on the right knee, before we enter the pew. We should offer him the same reverent recognition when we leave the church and his sacramental presence.   We might also remember to give a slight bow of the head whenever we hear, or say, the name of Jesus.  The new regulation of bowing one’s head before receiving Communion is another beautiful act of reverence. This same sense of reverence can be expressed by keeping the Bible, God’s living word to us, in a prominent place in our homes and by kissing it each time we read from it.   True reverence for God naturally leads us to the reverent, respectful love of neighbor.  Mother Teresa loved people because she saw Jesus in them. That was the same Jesus Whom she reverenced and experienced in the Holy Eucharist. We, too, will have many opportunities for daily experiences of Christ. So the heart of our mission as Christians is really to find him hidden in our neighbors, and to accept his challenge to us – to love him, to have compassion on him, to practice justice toward him, to be kind to him there .   Then it becomes easier for us to forgive injury as he did, and to be reconciled to those with whom we have difficulties.   Thus, our mission as his disciples is to seek, to find, and to respond to Him in all people and events.

3) Each of us has a unique mission in the Church.   God has a different call for each of us. Because each of us is unique, each of us has a mission which no one else can fulfill.  God will use all of us, and particularly what is unique in us, to bring this mission to fulfillment.  Our response must be like that of Isaiah: “Here I am, Lord…send me."  "I’ll do it.  I’ll play my part.  I’ll speak to that neighbor, that coworker, that friend, that relative.  I’ll talk to my daughter about the way she is rearing her children. I’ll keep my mouth shut and refuse to gossip or criticize my co-workers or my bosses. I’ll pray every day. I’ll learn to listen patiently to those in need.  I’ll do it.”   

One of the few creatures on earth that can out-jump Michael Jordon is the Impala. This is an African deer with a supercharged spring. It has a vertical leap of over 10 feet and can broad-jump over 30 feet. You would think that the zoos of the world would find it impossible to keep such an animal enclosed. Not so! It's rather easy. The experts discovered something about the Impala. It will not jump unless it can see where it is going to land. Therefore, a solid wall even 6 feet tall is a sufficient enclosure. Lots of Christians have the Impala problem. They won't take a leap of faith unless they have all the answers in advance about where the leap will take them. But God is looking for some bold believers who, even in the face of the unknown, will leap when the Spirit says leap, will fly when the Spirit says fly, will launch when the Spirit says launch, all to the glory of the Lord. Why must we be willing to launch out into the deep with the Lord? Because our Lord was willing to launch out into the deep for us. Today’s scripture passages present Isaiah, Paul and Peter who dared to make a leap of faith.

 (Source: Homilies of Fr. Tony Kadavil)

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