Fifth Sunday - 2022

Today’s First Reading gives us an account of the call of the prophet Isaiah. "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!" Isaiah is experiencing the very presence of God. He is seeing and hearing for himself; “… my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" "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!" – then an angel purifies his lips with the flame of truth, to become God’s messenger. True prophets are not just person with there own take on theology, they are so much more. As I have often mentioned all of us baptized believers who have been gifted with the Holy Spirit in the sacraments, are called to share in the Church’s vocation to be God’s prophets in our time. St. Paul in Roman’s lays it out so very well for us. How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them?  And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to proclaim the good news. Rom. 10:14: Our world needs new Isaiah's. Now we may hesitate to say, “here I am, send me”, because we are surely no theologian. But look again at today’s gospel. The people Jesus is calling to be his disciples are not the learned Scribes and Pharisees, they are simple fishermen. As prophets, we are called to be living evidence of the gospel of Jesus. When people see and experience your holiness, they will take notice. Today the word on the street is “Don’t tell me, show me.” Not everyone will respond positively to our efforts. So it was with the first disciples Jesus sent out, but many did. In Luke 10:1 we read: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few . . . . . Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves". Then in Verse 17: The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven . . . . . but, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” So when do we have our mystical experience? When we commit to entering the practice of the "Devout Life". The posts of this blog site are dedicated to support anyone seeking this goal. First we say "Speak Lord your servant is listening" The flame of God's Word will purify our minds and hearts. Then we are ready to say, "Here I am Lord, send me."

.