Catechism Links[1]
CCC 520,
618, 923, 1618, 1642, 2053: all are called to follow Christ
CCC 2144,
2732: awe in God’s presence vs. presumption
CCC 631-644:
the Apostles as witnesses of the Resurrection
 |
| “Call of the Sons of Zebedee” by Marco Basaiti,1510 |
Reading I: Isaiah 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!”
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Commentary on Is
6:1-2a, 3-8
The Prophet Isaiah tells us the
story of his call: “In the year King Uzziah died” (742 B.C.). The prophet first
relates his belief that he will die, since it is the common belief that no one
who had not been purified could see the face of God and live. Then one of the
seraphim took a coal from the fire at the altar (there would have been a fire
for burning the holocaust, a sacrificial offering completely burnt as opposed
to simply slaughtered), and flew to him.
With that coal, the seraphim touched Isaiah’s lips in symbolic
cleansing, making the prophet worthy to proclaim God’s word. The Church
remembers this event with the priest’s blessing of himself or the deacon before
proclaiming the Gospel at Mass with the words: “May the Lord open my lips that
I may proclaim the Holy Gospel worthily and well, in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The reading closes with the phrase that has become a lyric that we
express in the song: “Here I am Lord” and many other hymns.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
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Commentary on Ps
138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
Psalm 138 is a song of
thanksgiving. The response we use in this song of thanksgiving and praise
recalls for us Isaiah’s vision of the seraphim in Isaiah 6:2-7. We are
also reminded of God’s saving power and his enduring faithfulness.
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Reading II
Longer Form: 1 Corinthians
15:1-11
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.
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Commentary on 1
Cor 15:1-11
St Paul delivers an apologia (a defense) on the basic tenet of
the faith: Christ died for our sins and following his death there was a
physical resurrection. He goes on to offer proofs that Jesus was raised from
the dead by giving what amounts to a chronology of his post-resurrection
appearances, in which he includes his own vision on the road to Damascus.
St. Paul concludes this selection as he professes his own witness,
marking himself as least among the Apostles (because of his earlier role as
emissary of the Sanhedrin, persecutor of the Church). It is supposed that this
chapter is directed at refuting those who believe there was no physical
resurrection.
CCC: 1 Cor 15:3-5 186; 1
Cor 15:3-4 639,
652; 1 Cor 15:3 519,
601, 619, 624; 1 Cor 15:4-8 642; 1
Cor 15:4 627; 1
Cor 15:5 552,
641; 1 Cor 15:7-8 857; 1
Cor 15:8 659; 1
Cor 15:9 752
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OR
Shorter Form:
1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Cor 15:3-8, 11
This shorter form of St. Paul’s
synopsis of his profession of faith in Christ Jesus does not include the
evangelist’s exhortation, that the community of Corinth had received and
accepted the Lord. It is a straightforward profession of the reality of Jesus’
resurrection and return following that event.
CCC: 1 Cor 15:3-5 186; 1
Cor 15:3-4 639,
652; 1 Cor 15:3 519,
601, 619, 624; 1 Cor 15:4-8 642; 1
Cor 15:4 627; 1
Cor 15:5 552,
641; 1 Cor 15:7-8 857; 1
Cor 15:8 659; 1
Cor 15:9 752
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Gospel: 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 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.
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Commentary on Lk
5:1-11
St. Luke’s Gospel presents the
call of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John to discipleship. The Lord has
demonstrated his authority through his teaching, and then through the
miraculous catch of fish. We note the similarity of this incident with the
post-resurrection incident recounted in St. John’s Gospel (John 21:1-11).
At Jesus' summons, Simon and the two sons of Zebedee leave all
they have and follow the Lord. No mention is made here of Simon’s (Peter’s)
brother Andrew who would also have been there, and in fact, as a disciple of
John the Baptist, actually introduced the two (John 1:41 ff). We do hear that
James and John, Zebedee’s sons were also there as Simon’s partners, and are
called at the same time.
Simon Peter’s response to the Lord’s call is one of being sinful
and therefore unworthy of the presence of the Lord. In response to Simon’s
fearful humility, Jesus invites them all to leave what they have and become
fishers of men.
CCC: Lk 5:8 208
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Homily:
Today we hear about the call
from God to ordinary people. In the Book
of the Prophet Isaiah we hear part of his own call: How he had a vision of
heaven and how God sent messengers to him, first, to purify him and then to
invite him saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
How could Isaiah resist? He replies with words that have used as
lyrics in a multitude of songs sung by Christians throughout the millennia: “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
In St. Paul’s letter to the
Corinthians the call is almost invisible, inserted, as it is, in the evangelist’s
profession of faith in the resurrection.
He simply reminds the Corinthians of his own conversion saying: “Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles.”
Finally the Gospel of St. Luke tells us about the call of Peter and the sons of
Zebedee, James and John. They were
called directly by the Savior, receiving the full force of God’s
invitation. While he is not mentioned in
this passage, Andrew, St. Peter’s brother, was also brought into membership
with Christ at that time. These four
became special friends of the Lord and shared a special bond.
As these stories are presented,
we are reminded of another story. It was
not spectacular and not many have heard it before. It is the story of a young man born in Ovid
Center in upstate New York in the nineteenth century to Irish immigrants. His
name was Patrick Shean and he was the third of five children in his
family. His story comes mostly from
letters between Patrick and his sister Mary. While he was intelligent and
physically healthy, there was really nothing exceptional about him. His parents were good people, and made sure all
of the children went to school and went to Mass regularly.
When Patrick was about ten
years old, his sister noticed that Patrick was a very spiritual boy. He often helped the local Priest at Mass and
even in other ways with chores around the church grounds. According to Mary it was she who suggested to
him that maybe he could be a priest one day.
According to her, Patrick’s response was instantaneous. He told her she must be completely out of her
mind. He was going to go west when he
was old enough to take up a trade and become a merchant like O’Doul, who ran
the local mercantile store.
For a quite a while, it
appeared as if Patrick was going to do just that. He finished school surprisingly well and got
a job with Mr. O’Doul. But something
else seemed to be happening as well. He
was drawn more and more to the Church.
According to what he told his sister in strictest confidence because he
didn’t want it getting out and tarnishing his reputation as a hard headed
business man, he felt called do something more for God than just go to Mass and
say his prayers.
Apparently he was not as
secretive as he thought about what he was feeling because it wasn’t much later
that he was completely surprised when Mr. O’Doul himself asked Patrick if he
had thought of becoming a priest. Patrick
told Mary later that he had been quite embarrassed by the question and
explained to his employer that he really had plans of being just like Mr.
O’Doul. To which O’Doul had shrugged and
said if Patrick ever changed his mind, he’d help him pursue a vocation to the
priesthood.
During the next few years three
other people made the same suggestion, his best friend Jeremy (with whom
Patrick had tipped over Mr. Englhardt’s out-house as a prank one summer night),
his mother, who had suggested it with the strangest look in her eyes, and
finally his parish priest who as it turns out was an Oblate. Right up to the day Fr. Robert had asked,
Patrick had denied that he could possibly have a vocation. But, in August of 1903, Patrick left for
Seminary in New York
He was ordained a Priest
in1909 and ended up going west after all, as an Oblate priest headed for the
wilds of Minnesota
We tell his story today not
because he had a spectacular career, but rather because his call is so like the
call each of us hears. We are not likely
to have a vision of angels with glowing embers like Isaiah. We are not likely to be knocked off a horse
and blinded like St. Paul
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic
Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[3]
The picture is “Call of the Sons of Zebedee” by Marco Basaiti,1510
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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