Sunday Readings
“We will never discover the special, personal calling that God has in mind for us if we remain enclosed in ourselves, in our usual way of doing things, in the apathy of those who fritter away their lives in their little world.” – Pope Francis
My Dear People of God,
The readings of today remind us that God gives each one of us a special mission to make a positive impact in our world today just as Isaiah, Paul, and the Apostles did in their time. Our positive response to this call draws us to discipleship and conversion in Christ. The readings challenge us to examine our calls and responses to conversion and discipleship.
Isaiah in the first reading, Paul in the second reading, and Peter in today’s Gospel expressed their unworthiness to embrace this mission. Peter and Isaiah both protested in humility before the Presence of God and by so doing were cleansed and commissioned to a new mission.
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.
Every Christian has a special call from God to carry out a specific mission. Just as each one of us is unique so is our mission in the world. We have both individual and collective missions. Each person has a unique imprint to make in the world that no one else can. make. “We all have a vocation. We believe that God has placed us in this life to fill a special need that no one else can accomplish.” – St. Francis de Sales
God chooses each one according to His criteria for a specific mission. It is personal deception to think your God has not called you to do something because you are neither a religious nor missionary priest or nun. The God who called Isaiah continues to call people even in our time. The problem with this age is that we have become so absorbed with the self and the external realities of the modern world, social media, and materialism that we have lost the spirit of discernment and interior communion with God who speaks to our heart calling us daily. When we relate closely with God in the solitude and silence of interior life, then we can hear and discern what He calls us to do.
What are God’s criteria for calling people to serve and how does one qualify? God does not look at the external features of a person or is He concerned about their qualification or skill (cf. 1 Sam 16. God’s choice of David among the sons of Jesse). Without favoritism or prejudice, God extends His Call equally to everyone. His criteria seem to be His trust that you can do it because He provides whatever is needed to accomplish the mission. But do we respond positively to God’s call? This call may come in different forms. It could be to help a person in need, to forgive a brother or sister, to reconcile those living in enmity, to volunteer for some social or religious service, to preach or to pray for others, or to be an active voice in condemning injustice. In a more specific sense, it could be a call to the priesthood, to religious life, or marital life. “We will never discover the special, personal calling that God has in mind for us if we remain enclosed in ourselves, in our usual way of doing things, in the apathy of those who fritter away their lives in their little world.” – Pope Francis
When we examine the lives of Isaiah, Paul, and Peter and their response to God’s Call, something very remarkable comes to light; namely, the feeling of personal unworthiness and a willingness to answer the call. This is what qualifies a person to answer God’s Call. God chooses what is weak to shame the strong. (cf. 1Cor1:27) He does not call the qualified but qualifies the called. It is only God’s Grace that supplies what is lacking in our ability to answer God’s Call, hence, Paul acknowledged,“ I am what I am only by the Grace of God“. Proud and haughty people will never submit to God’s Call. We need to see ourselves as unworthy children of God and submit ourselves to God so that His Grace will lift us and strengthen us to answer whenever and wherever He asks us to go so that like Isaiah we can say “Here I am Lord send me”.
The Church and our world today are going through difficult and tumultuous times. Our world has ceased to be conducive to God’s Plan because we have lost sight of our missions. Many never answered God’s Call. Many are still wallowing in ignorance trying to discern who is calling or for what they are called. Worse still, many who accepted God’s Call, allowed selfish interest to come between them and God. They abandoned the Sender, the mission, and the message entrusted to them, and embraced personal mission, taking all the glory for their accomplishments. A mission without God is a failed one. Simon Peter and his fellow fishermen toiled all night at the sea and caught nothing, but when Jesus instructed, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”Simon obeyed and made an unimaginable catch. This scenario reminds us that our human qualifications or skills have serious limitations and unless we surrender to the Power of God, we might not achieve much in our missions in life. But If we turn back to God and heed to His instructions, our world shall be salvaged from total collapse and disintegration.
If we abandon our mission as Christians in search of some personal goals and interests, we shall register little or no success. True success in our call comes with total dependence on God who called us because when we separate ourselves from God we shall not achieve anything. (cf. Jn 15:5)
In this Mass, we pray that God will rekindle in our hearts the passion to answer His Call like our Mother Mary who responded with a perfect and generous yes to God and cooperated with His Grace. We must be as Isaiah, Paul, Peter, and all the saints through the ages, who gave themselves totally to God and answered wholeheartedly. May we be open to God who is daily calling us to serve, to love, to holiness, and to make a difference in our world. May the Holy Spirit help us to discern what God wants from us and to obey Him in every circumstance without allowing selfish motives to override Divine Call. Make a difference in your world today. Don’t wait until tomorrow because you are called to do something unique today.
