A Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C).
Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8 – 1Corinthians 15:1-11 – Luke 5:1-11.
Recently I watched some video clips of the reactions of pets upon seeing themselves in a mirror. Some attacked the mirror, thinking that the reflection was a rival. Some of them panicked and ran away. Others stood stock still in front of the mirror, transfixed by what they were seeing. Each pet’s reflection presented as something they didn’t understand, as a mystery. It’s not just pets that are attracted to, or repelled by, mysteries: people are too. When we come across something we don’t understand, either our curiosity is aroused and we dig until we get to the bottom of it, or we put it on the back burner. The greater the mystery, the more polarised our reaction is likely to be.
God works in mysterious ways (Rom 11:33ff) and He uses mysteries to attract us to Himself, not to repel us. Transcendent God mysterium tremendum et fascinans, to Whom we are simultaneously attracted and in fearful awe, is Himself a mystery. The limited human mind is capable of grasping only so much about the numinous. In the 1 st reading we see how He used the awesome manifestation of His holiness to attract Isaiah to become His messenger to the nations (cf. Lk 11:49). In the 2nd reading St Paul gave testimony to the Corinthians about his personal encounter with the risen Lord Jesus, an experience he shared with multiple disciples who had experienced the 40-day aftermath of the Resurrection for themselves. After Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fired up the Apostles to go out and proclaim to the world (Mk 16:15) the mystery of the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. In the Gospel reading, the mystery of the great catch of fish both attracted and awed Peter, James and John, so much so that they left everything and followed Him (v.11). Thereafter they became His closest confidants, His inner circle (Mt 17:1; Mt 26:38), and ultimately His messengers to the world.
Those who behold the glory and holiness of God, those who are given even a glimpse of His mysteriousness, are overawed by His presence and might. They become horribly aware of their littleness, of their sinfulness and of their unworthiness before Almighty God. When Isaiah had a vision of the heavenly host worshipping God, he was moved to confess his sinfulness. After St Peter witnessed the miracle of the catch of fish (cf. the parable of the Net, Mt 13:47ff), he fell to his knees and confessed his sinfulness. After St Paul’s conversion, when it came to him in a blinding flash that he was guilty of persecuting the Lord Jesus – God Himself! – Paul referred to himself as the least of the apostles (v.9), late to the party but an Apostle nonetheless.
God works in ways that humanity can never conceive of or comprehend. He shrouds human existence in so many mysteries that, when we grapple with trying to think them through rationally, we are drawn to recognise Him as the Origin of everything that exists. Allow yourself to become aware of God’s awesome presence. Look up at the mass of stars on a winter’s night and tremble at your apparent insignificance in the vastness of the universe. Then reflect open-mouthed on God’s overwhelming love expressed in creating and sustaining both you and the universe. It’s truly miraculous that everything (from galactic filaments to quarks, to the efficient working of our little blue planet and of the human mind) holds together isn’t it?
We have all been attracted in some way to the mysteries of God and of His Creation, to the mysteries of our being and to our faith in Jesus Christ the God-man. Although we are not yet made perfect (Phil 3:12), Jesus continually shows us ways to become better at living out the transcendental life of grace and holiness. When our attention is fixed on Him, we are moved not only to acknowledge our sinfulness and our smallness, but also to acknowledge our need to mirror Him and follow Him. Mirroring and Following are the most important elements in the Christian vocation. When you are following Christ, you cannot miss how He calls others to Himself through your own witness to His transcendence. He calls each one of us, as He did Isaiah: Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger? (v.8) (He says “our” rather than “my”, because there are three Persons in the one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) What is your response to Him? If you haven’t already, why not take the hint from Isaiah and say to Jesus, Here I am, send me?
It is important to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26). It is important to show ourselves as ready to carry out the Lord’s work (Col 3:24), and to act in accordance with His will (Lk 12:47). He calls each one of us to put out from the shore into the deep (G v.4). For you, that may mean you are being called to put out into the depth of God’s mercy, or into the depth of His grace, or into the depth of His love and peace. With faith and trust in Him, you will be able to see beyond the transience of this life to the reality of eternal life in God. Wherever you cast your net, you will never be disappointed by placing your total trust in God. The personal motto of Pope St John Paul II was totus tuus – “I am totally yours”. Why not adopt it for yourself? Amen. God bless you.