In the Scripture readings at Mass for
the weekend of February 6th and 7th, we get an interesting look at three of the
greatest heroes in the entire Bible. The first reading describes the call of
Isaiah, arguably the most important prophet in Israel’s history. Hundreds of
years before the fact, Isaiah wrote numerous messianic prophesies, all pointing
toward the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
In the second reading, from his first
letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul discusses his call to ministry and lists
some key points of the Good News. A tireless missionary, Paul spread the
message of salvation through faith in Christ throughout the known world.
Finally, the gospel reading describes
the call of St. Peter. Jesus explained that Peter would no longer spend his
time out on the boat catching fish, but instead would begin winning souls into
the Kingdom of God. Jesus declared to Peter, “From now on you will be catching
men.”
So, this week we see three great
heroes of our Judeo-Christian heritage, each one called by the Lord to do great
and wonderful things for the faith. And, of course, each of these three great
heroes accepted the call with joy and excitement and confidence. Umm, not
exactly.
In each case, when our three heroes
received the call by God, they were filled with doubt and fear. The first words
out of Isaiah’s mouth were, “Woe is me….I am a man of unclean lips.”
St. Paul didn’t mince words describing
his worthiness to be called by God. “I am the least of the apostles,” he wrote,
“not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Just
like Isaiah, Paul considered himself far too sinful to be a spokesman for the
Lord.
St. Peter also made his feelings
plainly known. “Depart from me, Lord,” he said to Jesus, “for I am a sinful
man.”
These three biblical heroes learned an
important lesson: the closer a person gets to the holy and perfect Lord, the
more that person becomes aware of his or her sinfulness. When Isaiah, Paul, and
Peter found themselves in the presence of God’s bright light, their
shortcomings become glaringly obvious. They each felt unworthy to be singled
out by the Lord for such important missions. But that’s not surprising.
Everyone is a sinner. Those who are close to God know it—and know they need
forgiveness—while those who are far from God think they’re just fine.
So, is there a lesson here for those
of us who are not biblical heroes, those of us who make up the vast throng of
nameless schlubs sitting in the pews each Sunday? Well, certainly there is. If
the great Isaiah, Paul, and Peter felt unworthy to do anything special for the
Lord, then we sure as heck shouldn’t even THINK of doing anything.
No, wait! That’s not the lesson. The
real lesson here is that you don’t have to be perfect to do something special
for the Lord. God calls every single believer—biblical hero and nameless schlub
alike—to help spread the good news of the Gospel.
Nowadays we Catholics are faced with a
severe shortage of ordained priests, a situation that’s going to get much worse
before it gets better. Jesus’ words were never more true: “The harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:12).
God is calling each and every one of
us to pitch in and help. He knows we’re sinful; He knows we’re fearful; He
knows we’re unsure of ourselves. That’s all right. So were Isaiah, Paul, and
Peter.
And who knows? If we are faithful and
answer God’s call, maybe someday future generations will look back and refer to
us as heroes. (Although personally I’m more comfortable with being called a “nameless
schlub.”)
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