Easter VI [C] (May 26) Homily Jn 14:23-29 (One-page summary) L/22 

Introduction: Today’s readings show us the effects of the abiding presence of God in His Church and of His indwelling in each one of us. Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit, indwelling in the Church, helped the apostles to solve a major doctrinal problem about the Gentiles becoming Christians, which shook the very foundation of the early Church. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 67) prays that all the nations on the earth may recognize their God and praise Him.  The second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem which replaces the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem is a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it and in each of its members. The Gospel passage reminds us that the Holy Spirit, abiding within us, is our Teacher, our Advocate, and the Source of our peace and joy.  The passage offers a vision of hope as well.  Jesus promises his followers that the Holy Spirit will come and instruct them in everything they need to know.

Life messages: 1) Let us be aware of the abiding presence of God within us: We live in the New Covenant of Jesus, daily facing uncertainty, conflict, and temptations.  It is the abiding presence of God within us that enables us to face the future with undying hope and true Christian courage.  The Holy Spirit Whom the risen Lord asked His Father to send upon His Church prompts us to turn to His Holy Scriptures for support and encouragement, enables us to learn the Divine truths, and grants us His peace at all times.  However, to be able to receive these gifts, it is necessary for us to spend a little time each day in personal prayer, talking to God and listening to Him.  We must deepen our relationship with Jesus, learn to get in touch with him, and sincerely love him.  When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will   know His plan for our life and His solutions to whatever problems we face.  We will be able to love our fellow human beings, and there will be a core of peace within us.  The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Scriptures and preaching during the Holy Mass. Jesus loves us and comes to us in Communion.   When the Mass is ended, we go forth in the peace of Christ -- all this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

2) We need to have the conviction that we are not alone:  One of the great social and ethical problems of our time is isolation.   Today approximately 25% of all adults live alone.   Spouses, parents, and children often live as virtual strangers to one another.   This is unfortunate because we never need to be alone.   Jesus can always be present to us.   He shares his joy with us and replaces the burden of our guilt with the freedom of forgiveness.  He takes our grief and turns it into joy.  We need only allow Jesus into our lives to be rid of this loneliness.   Oneness with Jesus is the greatest gift we can give our children, our friends, or those who see no purpose in life.   We can help to bring people into unity with Jesus, a unity that will change their lives.  As we celebrate this Eucharistic meal, our Mass, let us celebrate in a special way the price Jesus paid for our redemption.  May this Eucharistic celebration empower us to lead a true Life of the Spirit!

 Easter VI [C] (May 26): Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rv 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-21

Homily Starter Anecdotes: #1) “Temples of the Holy Spirit”: Francis of Assisi was an ardent advocate of the doctrine of the indwelling of God in man. It enabled him to love everyone equally whatever his status in life. One day he met a fellow who had no love for God. As they walked along, they met a man who was blind and paralyzed. St. Francis asked the sightless cripple: “Tell me if I were to restore your eyesight and the use of your limbs, would you love me?” “Ah,” replied the beggar, “I would not only love you, but I would be your slave for the rest of my life.” “See,” said Francis to the man who maintained that he could not love God, “this man would love me if I gave him his sight and his health. Why don’t you love God who created you with eyesight and strong limbs?” -- That is what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel. If we love Jesus because of the countless blessings he has given us, and so keep his word as the center of our life,  he will start dwelling within us in the company of his Father and the Holy Spirit, making us the temples of the Triune God. (Msgr. Arthur Tonne). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

# 2: Helen Keller’s indwelling God? The story is told that after Helen Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, had given her the names of physical objects in sign language, Miss Sullivan attempted to explain God and tapped out the symbols for the name "God." Much to Miss Sullivan’s surprise, Helen spelled back, "Thank you for telling me God’s name, Teacher, for He has touched me many times before." -- How could Helen Keller have known about God? Although she was blind and deaf, Helen Keller knew God, for God had shown Himself to her. That is the “revelation” of an indwelling God about whom today’s Scripture readings speak.  (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)      

 #3: “The most unpromising boy in my class” A  schoolmaster in France was discouraged with one of his students. He wrote in his roll book concerning this student: "He is the smallest, the meekest, the most unpromising boy in my class." Half a century later, an election was held in France to select the greatest Frenchman. By popular vote, that meekest, smallest, most unpromising boy was chosen. His name? Louis Pasteur, the founder of modern medicine. When he was seventy-three, a national holiday was declared in his honor. He was too weak to attend the ceremony in Paris, so he sent a message to be read by his son. The message read: "The future belongs not to the conquerors but to the saviors of the world" [Edward Chinn, Wonder of Words (Lima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing Co., Inc., 1987), p. 18.] -- Louis Pasteur was driven by a great purpose. Your name and my name may never be household words as is Pasteur's, but we, too, can be driven by a great purpose. Christ can give us that purpose. But there is one thing more Christ gives us. He gives us the presence of the Holy Spirit as promised in today’s Gospel. A healthy sense of identity and a driving purpose are not enough in themselves. One thing more is needed. It is the in-dwelling Spirit of the living God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

Introduction: Today’s readings show us the effects of the abiding presence of God in His Church and of His indwelling in each one of us. The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the Church, helped the apostles to solve a major doctrinal problem, which shook the very foundation of the early Church. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 67) prays that all the nations on the earth, not just Israel, may recognize their God and praise Him. The second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it and in each of its members, replacing the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel passage reminds us that the Holy Spirit abiding within us is our teacher and the Source of all peace.  The passage offers a vision of hope.  Jesus promises his followers that the Holy Spirit will come and instruct them in everything they need to know.

 The first reading: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, explained:  The first major controversy in the infant Church was about "what one must  do to be saved."  For the first 15 to 20 years of the Christian era, all Jesus’ followers were Jewish.  During that period, any Gentiles who wanted to become Jesus’ disciples were expected first to become Jews. They had to attend Sabbath synagogue services and keep the 613 Torah laws.  This situation began to change when a few “liberal” Christian communities like the newly founded Church of the Gentiles in Antioch, began to admit Gentiles into their number without demanding that they first be converted to Judaism.  Some of the Judeo-Christians from Judea and Jerusalem argued that the new Gentile converts must observe the Mosaic Law of circumcision, dietary regulations, purification rituals, etc.  The issue couldn't be settled on a local level, although Paul and Barnabas tried that at first.  Hence, they had to go to Jerusalem to consult the apostles.  The apostles convened the first Cburch Council at Jerusalem and, with the clear leading of the Holy Spirit, decided that the Gentiles need not become Jews first, to be saved as Christians.  The decision was momentous for two reasons.  First, it marked a significant break of Christianity with Judaism. Second, it put the burden of salvation on God rather than on man.  In other words, it is God’s love and His gift to us of Faith in Jesus that save us when we receive it and live it out. Our prayers, sacrifices or keeping of the Law, are only expressions of our gratitude to God, which foster our Faith.  We see Saint Paul wrestling with this question, first in Galatians, then, in a more polished way, in Romans. (The New Covenant was sealed not with the blood of circumcision, but with the blood of Jesus Christ (CCC #610, 613). This and other dogmas are examples of the exercise of authority given to the Church Magisterium by Christ. Belief in  -- acceptance of -- such dogmas is obligatory since they are truths contained in divine Revelation or have a necessary connection with them (CCC #88).

(A question on dissension answered: The early Church seems to be embroiled in dissension less than one decade after the Resurrection of Jesus. Can the Holy Spirit really be at work in those circumstances? Perhaps the question could be rephrased this way: “Is there a place for both controversy and peace in our Church?” There are a lot of ways to nuance the meanings of “dissension” and “debate,” but the underlying thrust is the same: disagreement over a matter of importance, at least to the parties engaged in debate. The year is only about 49 or 50 AD when this occurred, which shows that lively arguments were arising whenever “changes” occurred that would alter or even threaten to modify “established” rituals and practices. The answer is a resounding “YES.” The Church grew and still grows in understanding its Faith through lively discussions and debates among qualified theologians. Those discussions have been going on ever since the vision of St. Peter (Acts 10) which led to the baptism of the first Gentiles (Cornelius’ household), around 43 AD. It is important to recognize the wording of the Apostles’ decision regarding the waiver of the former discipline of circumcision: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit AND  to us to lay upon you no greater burden than…necessary things…” (Acts 15:28). Clearly, the dietary laws, variations in certain rituals, and similar disciplines were deemed eligible for change as circumstances warranted. Every suggested change creates healthy discussions and is preceded by healthy discussions. Closure is then brought to the discussion at some point in time, when the Apostles (or their successors, the united Bishops) reach a decision. Cultural conditioning plays a large part in some decisions (e.g., Paul insisting that women had to wear hats in church), as it does today; these are also identified as matters of “discipline.” ( Fr. Robert F. McNamara).

The Catechism on healthy debates: Perhaps it is better to leave the debates in the hands of the theologians, who are schooled in the ways of theological research (CCC #94), and who know the difference between debate and dissension. At some point in time, the Magisterium — the official and recognized teaching office of the Catholic church — reaches a decision on a subject, and to that decision we owe the obedience of Faith (CCC#144, 85, 88) or assent of Faith (optimally), or as a minimum the religious respect of intellect and will; and the Christian faithful are called upon “to take care to avoid whatever is not in harmony with that teaching” (Canon Law #752).

The second reading, Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23, explained: The Book of Revelation was written to bolster the Faith of the persecuted Christians of all ages. Everything John described via symbols, signs, numbers, etc. has already happened except, of course for the second advent of Jesus in glory. John’s vision of a new Jerusalem should be understood as a description of the Church, rooted initially in time and space, but growing and evolving toward an eschatological future. It describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it. While the earthly Temple was often thought of as a reflection of the Heavenly Temple, there will be no Temple in the New Jerusalem because the Almighty and the Lamb will be the Temple.  They will provide all the light that is necessary, so there will be no need for the sun or the moon. Ancient Jerusalem had long been for the Jews a token of God's presence with them.  God had aided them in capturing and holding it, in making it their capital, in building the Temple there, and in returning to it after their exile in Babylon. Within the holiest chamber of the Jerusalem Temple, they kept the stone tablets of the Law, given by God, in an enthroned chest known as the Ark of the Covenant.  God dwelt in a particular way in the space above the ark. This is, in the end, a metaphor for the Church, which is called to reveal to the human race God's presence among us.  

Gospel exegesis: John (Chapter 14) continues to recount Jesus’ farewell discourse after the Last Supper.  Today's Gospel passage explains the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the human soul, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

1) The abiding presence of God in the human soul: The promise of God's abiding presence must have been of great comfort to John's community who knew that the Temple in Jerusalem -- the symbol of God's presence with His people -- had been destroyed by the Roman army.  In today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells us that the one thing in life which we can always trust is God’s presence. God inhabits our hearts so deeply and intimately that we become the visible dwelling place of God.  His living and life-affirming Presence is always with us, yet '"hidden" in the very things we so often take for granted.  Thus, we are invited to look for and encounter -- "God-with-us," yet "hidden" -- in the person sitting next to us, in the words we speak, and in the songs we sing at worship. 

2) Condition for the indwelling of the Holy Trinity: Jesus teaches us the condition for this indwelling of the Holy Trinity, namely, we have to show our love of God by keeping his word.  And this keeping of his word will be facilitated by the Holy Spirit, God's Holy Breath. 

3) The role of the Holy Spirit is twofold: a) to "teach" the disciples and b) to “remind" them of what Jesus has already taught them” (v. 26). “At work since creation, having previously ‘spoken through the prophets,’ the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them ‘into all the truth’” (CCC  #243).  Jesus affirms that even though He will no longer be visibly with them, he will continue to be present among them through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of Truth will continue teaching them and helping them to understand and to build on what Jesus has already taught them.  The Advocate will bring no new revelation because God has already revealed Himself in Jesus.  But the Advocate will deepen their understanding of the revelation given by Jesus.

4) Jesus gives his followers four gifts:  First, he gives them his love, which will enable them to keep his word. Next, he gives them the Holy Spirit, who will teach them everything they need to know. The Holy Spirit is the abiding love of God available to us, enabling us to accept the friendship of Jesus, while imitating Him, the Master.  Third, he gives them His peace to strengthen them against fear in the face of trouble. Here "peace" is not just the absence of conflict, but also the far wider concept of shalom, the total well-being of the person and community.  The promise of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will bring a peace that will quell their fears of the unfolding darkness ahead. “In Johannine language, peace, truth, light, life and joy are figurative terms reflecting different facets of the great gift that Jesus has brought from God to the world. 'Peace is my gift to you,' is another way of saying, 'I give them eternal life' (Jn 10:28) (Raymond E. Brown). The Holy Spirit is available as Comforter and Guide to those who believe in Jesus and follow in his way. The One God -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – is pure Love. This Love, the Triune God, comes and lives in us, takes up residence in us and lives in our body. When God’s love lives in us, and we live in Him, there is much more peace in our families, our Churches, our offices.  Fourth, Jesus rewards them with the assurance of his second coming. 

Life messages: 1) Let us be aware of the abiding presence of God within us: We live in the New Covenant of Jesus, daily facing uncertainty, conflict, and temptations.  It is the abiding presence of God within us that enables us to face the future with undying hope and true Christian courage.  The Holy Spirit, sent upon the Church by the Father at the request of the risen Lord, prompts us to turn to His Holy Scriptures for support and encouragement, enables us to learn the Divine truths, and grants us His peace at all times.  However, to be able to receive these gifts, it is necessary for us to spend a little time each day in personal prayer, talking to God and listening to Him.  We must deepen our relationship with Jesus, learn to get in touch with him, and sincerely love him.  When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will   know His plan for our life and His solutions for whatever problems we face.  We will be able to love our fellow human beings, and there will be a core of peace within us.  The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Scriptures and preaching during the Holy Mass as well as in our prayer and our private reading of Scripture. Jesus loves us and comes to us in Communion.   When the Mass is ended, we go forth in the peace of Christ -- all this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2) We are not alone:  One of the great social and ethical problems of our time is isolation.   Today approximately 25% of all adults live alone.   Spouses, parents, and children often live as virtual strangers to one another.   This is unfortunate because we never need to be alone.   Jesus can always be present to us.   He shares with us his joy and replaces the burden of our guilt with the freedom of forgiveness.  He takes our grief and turns it into joy.  We need only allow Jesus into our lives to be rid of this loneliness.   Oneness with Jesus is the greatest gift we can give our children, our friends, or those who see no purpose in life.   We can help to bring people to unity with Jesus, a unity that will change their lives. As we celebrate this Eucharistic meal, our Mass, let us celebrate in a special way the price Jesus paid for our redemption.   May this Eucharistic celebration empower us to lead a true Life in the Spirit.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

1) Here is an Irish lyric: "Paddy Murphy went to Mass, never missed a Sunday. But Paddy Murphy went to hell, for what he did on Monday." 

2) Don’t lose your mental peace: The Sunday school children had all been photographed with pastor sitting in their center. The pastor was trying to persuade the children to buy a copy of the group photo. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer; she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael; he's a doctor.' A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's our Pastor; he's dead." 

3)  Peace and Relaxation: Did you know that.....If you can start the day without caffeine, if you can get going without pep pills, if you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, if you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, if you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, if you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, if you can take criticism without resentment, if you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him, if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, if you can conquer tension without medical help, if you can relax without liquor, if you can sleep without the aid of drugs, ...Then you are probably the family dog! 

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org

2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c)      

20 Additional anecdotes 1) The ‘Butterfly Effect’     “Today’s real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. Scientists tell us that the world is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon forest can generate a storm on the other side of the earth. The principle is known as the ‘Butterfly Effect.’” (Kofi Annan –“Excerpts from Nobel Prize acceptance speech”). -- Today we realize more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own ‘Butterfly Effect’ for better or for worse. The classical example is the history-making growth of Christianity in the first century by the Spirit-transformed lives of the apostles and early Christians. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

2) Two loves in our lives: Jimmy Carter, in his book, Sources of Strength, tells about interviewing Eloy Cruz, an admirable Cuban pastor, who had tremendous rapport with poor immigrants from Puerto Rico. “What is the secret to your success?” asked Carter. -- Pastor Cruz replied, “Señor Jimmy, we need to have only two loves for our lives, love for God and love for the person who happens to be in front of us at any time.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

3) "You were walking with Mary Susanna Brown, a child of God": Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, (the eldest son of Boston physician, poet, and polymath, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes), was walking down a street one day. A little girl joined him. When the girl started to turn back home, the famed jurist said, "When your mother asks you where you've been, tell her you've been walking with Oliver Wendell Holmes,” to which the little girl replied confidently, "And when your folks ask you where you've been, tell them you were walking with Mary Susanna Brown, a child of God." -- There's a little girl with a healthy sense of who she is! Psychologists tell us that a healthy sense of identity is one of the most valuable gifts we can give our children. We are God’s children and our God is an indwelling God. First, however, we need that gift ourselves. And if we did not receive it from our parents, we will need to look to God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

4) Head and tail fight of bulldog ants: The philosopher Schopenhauer once compared us to a Bulldog Ant. If we cut a Bulldog Ant in half, the front and rear segments will enter into a savage fight. The head will seize the tail with its teeth, while the tail will sting the head with fury. The fight might last for hours. -- That is the way some of us are on the inside. There is part of us that wants to move ahead and a part that wants to stand absolutely still. There is a part of us that wants success and recognition. There is another part that wants to sit on the river bank and while away the hours. There is a part of us that wants to serve Christ. There is another part that says, "No, I've enough to do right now. Let someone else take their turn." There is a fierce battle going on within many of us. Few of us know what it is to live lives of contentment and peace. -- Jesus said to his disciples, "I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid"(Jn 14:27) What a promise! What a gift! Peace of mind and heart. He can give it to us. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

5) Love as Jesus loved: Jesus said, "I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love." (John 13:9). During World War II, a prisoner escaped from a labor detail in Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. The camp commander announced that if he were not found in 24 hours, 10 of the 600 men in Block 14 would be picked at random to starve to death. Next morning the prisoners were lined up and stood all day in the burning heat of the sun. At 6 pm, 10 were selected at random. One was the father of a family. As they were being marched off, a Franciscan priest among the prisoners, St. Maximilian Kolbe, offered to take his place. The Nazi officer in charge was stunned, but he regained his composure and said, "Accepted."  -- The priest's heroic act of love for a fellow prisoner is a faint reflection of Jesus' love for us,  and of the Father's love for Jesus. Can I recall a time when I went out of my way and offered to help someone in need? The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them. (Jn 15:13). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

6) "Were we shot down?" A commercial airline pilot on one occasion made a particularly bad landing. The wheels of the big jet hit the runway with a jarring thud. Afterward, the airline had a policy, which required that the pilot stand at the door while the passengers exited. He was to give each of them a smile and say, "Thanks for flying with us today." In light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment, but no one seemed annoyed. Finally everyone had gotten off except for one little old lady walking with a cane. She approached the pilot and asked, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why, no, Ma'am, what is it?" said the pilot bravely. "Did we land," she asked, "or were we shot down?"  --- Maybe you've had days like that, days when it felt like you were shot down. Even worse, maybe things are going quite well for you, really. Your friends and your family tell you how fortunate you are. But you don't feel fortunate. In fact, your life is somewhat tortured by a nagging fear that you cannot even define. It is at those moments that God wants us to turn to Him. He is our Peace, always. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

7) "Mommy, are you there?": I recall the story of a little girl who, when trains were popular transportation, was taking her first train ride with her parents. As night descended, the mother took the girl, who was clearly quite anxious, and placed her on the upper bunk of the sleeper. She told her little one that up there she would be nearer to God and that God would watch over her. As silence enveloped the young lady she became afraid and called softly, "Mommy, are you there?" "Yes dear," came the response. A little later, in a louder voice, the child called, "Daddy, are you there, too?" "Yes dear," was the reply. After this had been repeated several times one of the passengers sharing their sleeper car finally lost his patience and shouted loudly, "Yes, we're all here, your father, your mother, your brother, and all your aunts and cousins; now settle down and go to sleep!" There was a moment of silence and then, in hushed tones a little voice asked, "Mommy, was that God?" -- Jesus, in offering peace, does not say, "I'm here, the Holy Spirit's here and God is here, now be at peace!" The peace that Jesus offers cannot be had simply by desiring it. The peace of God is a gift; it can only be received as a by-product of Faith. That's why the world is largely a stranger to it. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

8) Brendan Behan, an Irish playwright, virtually drank himself to death. His biographer attributes it to an unrelenting sense of guilt. Behan went to England on a mission for the I.R.A. One day he planted a bomb set to go off during rush hour. It exploded as a young woman with her baby was passing by. Both died in the blast! Brendan Behan was overwhelmed with guilt for killing that innocent woman and her baby. And as time went on he increasingly tried to drown his memories and silence his conscience in a bottle, without success! -- Guilt is a terrible thing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a guide in life a guide Who will help us avoid those things that we know are wrong, those things that fill us with regret? Christ has promised us such a guide. That guide is the Holy Spirit. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

9) Loving grandpa and the naughty grandchild: Grandpa walked into the family room and found his little grandson, Jeffy, standing up in his playpen, crying. He looked so pitiful, standing there in his little baseball T-shirt and diaper. His face was red and tear-stained from crying. When Jeffy saw his grandpa, his face lit up in a way that smote the old man’s heart. He immediately reached up his chubby little hands in supplication. “Take me out, Papa, out!” What grandpa could resist such a plea? Not this one! He walked over to the playpen and reached down to lift his little buddy out of captivity and distress. Just then, however, Law and Order stepped into the room. Jeffy’s mother walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hand and spoke sternly. “No, Jeffy! You are being punished. You have to stay in bed! Leave him right there, Dad.” Oh, fine. Now what’s a grandpa to do? His grandson’s tears and reaching little hands tugged mightily at his heart – but he didn’t want to interfere with a mother’s discipline either. What could he do? Love found a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffy out of the playpen, he climbed in with him. “If you’re in the playpen, Buddy, I’m in the playpen. What’s your sentence? How long are you in for?” --  And finding a big, jolly grandpa suddenly filling his little prison cell, the little boy found comfort even in his captivity. Today’s readings explain God’s indwelling in the Church and in the believers in terms of God’s love for His children. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

10) The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky regarded by many as one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time. His books are classics. The Brothers Karamazov is regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written. His stories all have a similar theme, that our redemption is to be found through suffering, not simply physical suffering, but in the anguish of our selfhood. We become fully human, Dostoyevsky believed, by being tested and being strengthened through it [Pulpit Resource, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Logos Art Productions, Inver Grove, Minnesota) pp. 14-15.] -- The peace which Jesus gave to the disciples involved very little contentment. They had to endure persecutions, misunderstanding, and hardships of every kind. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

11) “But Papa, I love him; he loves me.” In the Broadway play and movie of the same name, Fiddler on the Roof, the chief protagonist is Tevye, a poor Russian Jew struggling to make a life for himself and his family. Economically and politically strapped by the harsh conditions of life prior to and during the Russian Revolution (ca. 1917), Tevye the milkman can hold onto little else except his traditions. However, even these began to crumble when his eldest daughter refuses to acquiesce to an arranged marriage and opts for love in poverty rather than wealth without love. Further shaken by the marriage of his second daughter to a Russian who favors the revolution, Tevye seems unable to bear anything more. But the final blow comes when his youngest daughter chooses to marry Christian. When Tevye argues with his daughters in favor of the centuries’ old traditions of their people, they counter him on every point with the simple explanation, “But Papa, I love him; he loves me.” --  Love proved to be a force powerful enough to overcome separatism and the distrust of others and their ways on the grounds that they did not share the same roots, background and beliefs. In Tevye's family, love began to establish new traditions, though not easily or rapidly. The family which was the early Church also struggled with the tasks of surrendering old ways (as described in the first reading) and of learning and establishing new ones as it grew and developed. Based on love and founded in peace, the Church’s new traditions were inspired, supported and guided by none other than the Holy Spirit. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

12) Conversion: Joshua, a young Jew, fell in love with Mary, a devout Catholic. When Joshua proposed to Mary, she sought counsel from her parents, each of whom advised her differently. “Convert him to Catholicism!” commanded Mary’s dad, but her mum said, “Love him tenderly and God’s Spirit will work wonders!” Mary’s dad wouldn’t give in and ordered her to work hard at converting Joshua to Catholicism. Mary obeyed and Joshua was duly converted. Weeks later Joshua called off the marriage. “What’s up?” asked Mary’s dad. Mary sobbed: “Joshua wants to be a priest!” (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for daily Deeds). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

13) The little mediator, Wee Willie Winkie: John Ford's superb family action-adventure film, Wee Willie Winkie (1937), is loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's popular story from his Tales of British India.   The setting of this movie is 19th century British-occupied India. Little Priscilla Williams and her widowed mother travel to India to live with their relative, Colonel Williams. The colonel ruled his British Army base in India with an iron fist making of it an oppressive place.  Priscilla is a very curious, precocious child, who gains the nickname of "Private Wee Willie Winkie.”  The little girl quickly charms everyone around her, including a tough Scots Sergeant. After a series of adventures, she wins the hearts of everyone by challenging the prejudicial assumptions of both friends and enemies.  Her innocent, yet challenging questions are instrumental in helping Colonel Williams and Islamic freedom fighter, Khoda Khan, to see the senselessness of violence.  This leads them to a negotiated peace. -- Today’s Gospel assures us that it is the abiding presence of God the Father with God the Incarnte Risen Son in the Holy Spirit within us,  which gives us lasting peace. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

14)  A New Advocate:      When the heartbroken Nathaniel Hawthorne went home to tell his wife that he had been a failure and had been fired from his job in a customhouse, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy. “Now,” she said triumphantly, “you can write your book!” “Yes,” replied Nathaniel, “and what shall we live on while I am writing it?” To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial sum of money. “Where on earth did you get that?” he exclaimed. “I have always known you were a man of genius,” she told him. “I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week out of the housekeeping money you gave me I saved a little. So here is enough to last us a whole year!” From her confidence and encouragement came one of the greatest novels of United States literature, The Scarlet Letter. –- As a farewell, gift Jesus spoke of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate he would give us. On the Divine level, deeper experiences of God do not make Christians immune to human problems and pain, but Jesus showed that his peace can be present even in the midst of insults, persecution, and approaching death. (Harold Buetow in God Still Speaks: Listen!) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

15) "Padre, padrecito," he exclaimed, "I knew you would come."  It happened that a missionary priest was visiting his extensive parish, high in the Andes Mountains. The best way to reach certain parts of the parish was on horseback. Once, toward sunset, the priest got disoriented and could not find the way back to his base camp. Rather than risk exposure at such an altitude, he decided to give his horse free rein and hope to find shelter. After a couple of hours of wandering, he saw a welcome sight. In the distance a lamp burned in a hut. This was unusual because the native people went to bed shortly after dark in order to get up at an early hour. When the priest got near the hut, a man ran out, "Padre, padrecito," he exclaimed, "I knew you would come." Surprised, the priest asked how he knew that. The man said, "My mother has been praying all day that a priest would come. She is dying." The priest went inside, heard the woman's confession, then gave her Holy Anointing and Holy Communion. The woman softly spoke these final words, "Taita Dios heard me." -- Taita Dios is not easy to translate. Dios of course means God, but Taita is hard to translate. It is an intimate, affectionate way of addressing one's father. Taita is like "daddy," except that a grown-up man could say it with no embarrassment. Taita Dios, my dear Father, has heard me. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that if someone keeps Jesus' word, "the Father will love him." He then describes an intimacy impossible for us to imagine. He tells us that he and the Father will dwell within us - by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Phil Bloom). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

16) "I would obey the commandments of God." When Jimmy Carter was running for President of the United States, one of the more vivid moments in the campaign passed by almost unnoticed. One Sunday morning, candidate Carter had been worshipping at the Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. When the service was over, he exited the church into the swarm of press encamped on the church's front lawn. Cameras whirring, video lights glaring, microphones thrust forward, the media mavens moved in for interviews, pushing themselves to think of clever questions to ask a presidential candidate on the way out of a Southern Baptist Church. Suddenly, a reporter, probably in a stroke of luck, shouted out a question that genuinely mattered: "Mr. Carter, suppose when you are President, you get into a situation where the laws of the United States are in conflict with what you understand to be the will of God. Which will you follow, the laws of the state or the commandments of God?" Carter stopped, looked up, and blinked into the bright Georgia sun, obviously turning the question over in his mind. Then, perhaps still "in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," perhaps with the Spirit gently whispering the lyrics of the Gospel into his ears, he turned toward the reporter and replied, "I would obey the commandments of God." Alert aides, alarmed by this candor, unnerved by their candidate's near-treasonous remark, hurriedly whisked him away from the press and into a waiting car. -- Carter the politician should have avoided the question, or hewed closely to the law of the land, but Carter the Christian had the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ whispering in his ear, "Do you love me? The world cannot see or know me, but do you love me? Do you keep my commandments?" The reason we need the Holy Spirit murmuring the Gospel in our ears, of course, is that we are notoriously forgetful. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

17) The true peace Christ brings us, according to St. Francis Assisi: The Little Flowers of St. Francis, composed at the end of the 14th century by a Tuscan, is  based on Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius in divided into 53 short chapters. Here is a gripping story told in the book.  “Walking one day in the bitter cold with Brother Leo, St Francis began to teach him about perfect joy and perfect peace. He called to Brother Leo, who was walking on before him, and said to him: 'If we monks were great holy men who edified all those around us, this would not be perfect joy.' A little further St. Francis called to Brother Leo again: 'O Brother Leo, if we monks were to make the lame to walk, if we should make straight the crooked, chase away demons, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and, what is even a far greater work, if we should raise the dead after four days, write that this would not be perfect joy.' ….After some two miles of this Brother Leo finally spoke up and said: 'Father Francis, I pray thee teach me wherein is perfect joy.' Francis then teaches him this: 'If, when we shall arrive at St Mary of the Angels, all drenched with rain and trembling with cold, all covered with mud and exhausted from hunger; if, when we knock at the convent-gate, the porter should come angrily and ask us who we are; if, after we have told him, "We are two of the brethren," he should answer angrily, "What ye say is not the truth; ye are but two impostors going about to deceive the world, and take away the alms of the poor; begone, I say"; if then he refuse to open to us, and leave us outside, exposed to the snow and rain, suffering from cold and hunger till nightfall - then, if we accept such injustice, such cruelty and such contempt with patience, without being ruffled and without murmuring, believing with humility and charity that the porter really knows us, and that it is God who maketh him to speak thus against us, write down, O Brother Leo, that this is perfect joy. And if we knock again, and the porter come out in anger to drive us away with oaths and blows, as if we were vile impostors, saying, "Begone, miserable robbers! To the hospital, for here you shall neither eat nor sleep!" - and if we accept all this with patience, with joy, and with charity, O Brother Leo, write that this indeed is perfect joy. And if, urged by cold and hunger, we knock again, calling to the porter and entreating him with many tears to open to us and give us shelter, for the love of God, and if he come out more angry than before, exclaiming, "These are but importunate rascals, I will deal with them as they deserve'; and taking a knotted stick, he seize us by the hood, throwing us on the ground, rolling us in the snow, and shall beat and wound us with the knots in the stick - if we bear all these injuries with patience and joy, thinking of the sufferings of our Blessed Lord, which we would share out of love for him, write, O Brother Leo, that here, finally, is perfect joy.’  -- I believe that what St Francis was saying to Brother Leo was that the Peace of Christ comes through our acts of obedience especially obedience in times of suffering. We will do well if we remember that true peace is the assurance that one day our Brother Jesus will return to take us back, back to our Father's house. “So, do not let your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid.” (Jn 14:1) Amen. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

18) Peanut in our pocket:  There is a story told  about a young lady named Sally. Sally was growing up, becoming a woman, preparing to go off to college. Her mother had struggled to provide for her education, an especially difficult task since her father had died several years earlier. Her mother had made every effort within her power to raise Sally right. Now Sally would be on her own, an exciting and frightening time. Sally had strong reservations about leaving her mother alone to mind the farm and do the chores. She was also nervous about having to find her own way without her mother's guidance. As she prepared to meet the bus, bags packed and ready, her mother took her arm and said to her, "You're gonna see things an' do things you ain't never heard of, and you won't know which way to turn sometimes. You 'member how you used to tug on my apron string when you wanted something, and I'd see to what you was after? You 'member how when you was too close to the road, and I'd holler to you to tell you to get away from there'?" her mother gently reminded her. "Well, I'm gonna be there with you in your heart, but it'll be up to you to listen to what I told you. I can't kiss your hurts when you fall down an' skin your knee or quiet you when the big storms come rollin' through. But, I'll be close as a peanut in your pocket when you need me. If you're afraid, I'll stand with you. And if you are hurting, you can feel me close, and if you do wrong, I'll whisper the truth to ya, so you won't do it no more." The tears came to both their eyes. Her mother opened the dresser drawer and took out a neatly folded handkerchief and placed it in the pocket of Sally's dress. Upon leaving, Sally felt completely alone. As she fought back the tears, she reached into her dress pocket to take out the handkerchief her mother had placed there. Then she noticed a knot in one corner just like her mother used to tie her milk money in her handkerchief. Upon untying the knot, she found a single peanut. She knew that her dear mother would always be with her in her heart (3. Parables submitted by Ron Alberston). -- The Good News is that God wants to dwell in our lives. God wants to take up residence in our hearts. God wants to be with us always, as close as a peanut in our pocket. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     

19) "Watch Jimmie in chapel:" In his book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, Oliver Sacks tells the story of Jimmie, a former sailor, now a patient in a nursing home, whose severe neurological disorder had left him with a profound and permanent amnesia. He simply had no memory of anything from 1945 on. Having no ability to retrieve the past and no ability to construct a meaningful present, Jimmie lacked the continuity that makes for a sense of the self. He was, wrote Sacks, a person who "wore a look of infinite sadness and resignation." However, when Sacks asked the Sisters who ran the nursing home whether Jimmie had lost his soul, the Sisters were outraged by the question. "Watch Jimmie in chapel," they said, "and judge for yourself." So Sacks did watch Jimmie in chapel, and there he observed an astounding transformation. He saw an intensity and steadiness in Jimmie that he had not observed before. As he received the Sacrament, there was "perfect alignment of his spirit with the spirit of the Mass." There in worship, Jimmie was no longer at the mercy of a faulty and fallible memory. "He was wholly held, absorbed ...." He whose mind was broken was given in worship, "a continuity and unity so seamless it could not permit any break." . (Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, is reported in Craig Dykstra, "Memory and Truth," Theology Today, XLIV/2, p. 162).  -- Jimmie in his own way is like all of us. In the final analysis, none of us is able to construct a self. We must all be given a story and a continuity not of our own making. Where we have no faithful memory, God remembers, and by the grace of God, the Spirit whispers the lyrics of the saving Gospel in our ears. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)       

20) The City Sparkled Like a Diamond: We pray for the dead, “May perpetual light shine upon them”. Have you ever wondered what sort of light perpetual light would be? Soft and white, perhaps, like the light of a frosted bulb? Piercing, like the headlight of a motorcycle? Scary electric blue, like a flash of lightning? Too dazzling even to look at, like the glare of the summer sun? It might resemble any of these. But somehow, I believe that the light in heaven will be more gracious. -- Today’s second reading suggests what I mean. St. John had a preview of the “new Jerusalem” to be sent down by God. He says, “The city had the radiance of a precious jewel that sparkled like a diamond.” In other words it shone with a glittering, amiable, transparent light. John used similar descriptions elsewhere in the Book of Revelations: “The city was of pure gold, crystal clear” and “The streets of the city were of pure gold, transparent as glass. The floor around (God’s) throne was like a sea of glass that was crystal clear.”  Centuries before St. John’s days, the prophet Ezekiel had described the sky above God, whom he too saw in a vision, as shining “like glittering crystal.“ From 1915 to 1917 the three children of Fatima, Portugal – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – had several visions of Our Lady and of angels. They, too, described the light in these visions as something you could see through. Lucia has recorded that the angel they saw in 1916 “was a young man, about 14 or 15 years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it.” And when Our Lady appeared to them on May 13, 1917, Lucy said “she was more brilliant than the sun, and radiated with a light more clear and intense than a crystal glass filled with sparkling water when the rays of the burning sun shine through it.” I think I would like that sort of light. (Father Robert F. McNamara). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)       L/22

“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 33) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141                   Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 .

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is God's call to a person, and the positive response to this call which leads the person to discipleship. As in our own lives, God’s call has three steps: 1) the revelation of God Himself in the Old Testament, or of Jesus as the Messiah sent from God in the NT; 2) the recognition and confession of one’s unworthiness and inadequacy to receive this call; and 3) the word of reassurance from God, or Jesus, and a call to share in His life-giving mission.  Today’s readings tell us that God has His own criteria for selecting people to be prophets and ministers.  Presenting the special calls, or vocations, of Isaiah, Paul and Peter as life-changing events, the readings challenge us to examine our own personal calls and responses to conversion and discipleship.

Scripture lessons: Isaiah in the first reading and Peter in today’s Gospel express their unworthiness to be in the presence of God’s great holiness, and Peter and Isaiah both immediately receive their Divine calls. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 138) gives us a prayer that could reflect the gratitude experienced by those who follow God’s call. 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. The Second Vatican Council teaches that we are all called to ministry by virtue of our Baptism into Jesus Christ.

Life Messages: 1) We need to pray that our encounters with the holiness of God may lead us to recognize our sinfulness. God, who calls us and commissions us for His service, wants us to realize His presence everywhere and in everyone, to repent of our sins, and to remain in readiness to speak and act for Him in our life circumstances as He shall direct us through His grace and His Holy Spirit. 2) We need to teach and practice expressions of reverence for the Lord.     We need to express our reverence for God through appropriate bodily gestures.  For example, when we come into Church, we need to show reverence for Jesus’ presence in the tabernacle by making a deep bow or by genuflecting and blessing ourselves with sign of the cross. Then we need to honor Him by listening to the word of God and by actively participating in the liturgy's prayers and singing. This same sense of reverence can be expressed by keeping the Bible, God’s living word to us, in a prominent place in our homes and by kissing it each time we read from it.   True reverence for God naturally leads us to the reverent, respectful love of our neighbors, as God dwells in them.

 3) Each of us has a unique mission in the Church.   This is why God has a different call for each of us. Each of us is unique, so each of us has a mission which no one else can fulfill. Let us accomplish this mission by radiating the love, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus and by participating in the various ministries of our parish.  

OT V [C] (Feb 10):  Is 6:1-2a, 3-8; I Cor 15:1-11; Lk 5:1-11

Anecdote 1: “Ours is total commitment!” There was a story about the hen and the pig bragging to each other about their contribution and commitment to humanity. The hen bragged: “We hens supply thousands of eggs for the market every day. Ours is the best selfless gift.” Not satisfied, the pig countered, “And who lay down their lives so that people may eat bacon, lechon, barbecue, ham and sausages? Pigs. Ours is total commitment of our lives in the service of humanity!” In all the readings for today, especially the Gospel, the message is one – a Call from God and the Commitment expected from those God has called.

# 2: Divine calls answered: Agnes Bojaxhiu was born in Macedonia in 1910. At the tender age of 12 she strongly felt the call of God and knew she was called to spread the love of Jesus Christ. At age 18 she entered a convent and joined the sisters of Loreto. While teaching at a high school in Calcutta she was so moved by the extreme poverty she saw from her window that she sought and received permission to work among the poorest of poor in the slums. The story of her work became well known to all because this woman we know as Mother Theresa, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, continued to obediently answer God's call to serve God's people until her death. About 5 years ago a very successful attorney from Atlanta was sitting on the cloister porch at a monastery in New York. He had just spent three days in prayer, and quiet listening for God. He made a decision at that time to leave his comfort zone of high income, recognition in the legal community, power and prestige and enter seminary. He was ordained Deacon in this place in December and will be ordained Priest later this year. God said "follow me"� and in faith and obedience, this man did exactly that. There was a special blessing for me in all of that because I was sitting next to him on the cloister porch when he made and announced his decision. (Rev. Ed Fuller).

# 3: A call rejected:  Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon.  Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, “If you’ll come to the Baptist church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven.” “I don’t think I’ll be there,” the boy said. “Why?” Billy Graham asked him.  “Because you don’t even know your way to the post office! How can you show me the way to Heaven?” Today’s readings tell us about the calls of the prophet Isaiah, Paul, and Peter to God’s ministry.

# 4: Divine call daily executed:  One day, author and educator Howard Hendricks was on a plane that was delayed from takeoff. As passengers became irritated and demanding, Howard noticed how gracious one of the flight attendants continued to be with each passenger. When they were finally in the air he continued to be amazed at her poise and control. When she came by his seat, Howard asked if he could write a letter of commendation to the airline on her behalf. “I don’t work for the airline,” she replied, “I work for Jesus Christ. My husband and I prayed this morning that I would be a good representative of Jesus Christ on this flight.” Do you have a career or a calling? You see, somewhere out on Lake Galilee, a handful of fishermen were transformed in such a way that they would eventually change the world because Christ had come and had given them a mission for eternity.

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is God's call and people's response.  The Scripture readings present three of the greatest witnesses in the Bible—Isaiah, Paul and Peter—expressing their own worthlessness. A seraph cleanses Isaiah lips with a burning coal and Jesus has a cleansing word for Peter. When Isaiah had his vision and Peter had his epiphany, each experienced deep humility, fear, respect, and reverence—in short, awe. Today’s readings teach us that Christian spirituality is discipleship, which means a positive response to God’s call. Discipleship has three steps: 1) The revelation: The miraculous, catch of fish described in today’s Gospel was a revelation of Jesus’ identity as the One sent from God. 2) The recognition and confession of one’s unworthiness and inadequacy: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  3) The word of reassurance from Jesus and a call to share in his life-giving mission.  Today’s readings are “epiphany-call stories” which tell us that God has His own criteria for selecting people to be prophets and ministers.  Presenting the special calls, or vocations, of Isaiah, Paul and Peter as life-changing events, the readings challenge us to examine our own personal calls to conversion and discipleship. When faced with the awesome power of God, Isaiah, Paul, and Peter are all struck dumb by a sense of their own unworthiness.  Peter in today’s Gospel and Isaiah in the first reading express their unworthiness to be in the presence of God’s great holiness, and Peter and Isaiah both immediately receive their Divine calls. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 138) gives us a prayer that could reflect the gratitude experienced by those who follow God’s call. 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. The calls of these various ministers of God are set before us so that we can reassess our own call from God and our response to Him. The Second Vatican Council teaches that we are all called to ministry by virtue of our Baptism into Jesus Christ.

First reading, Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8, explained: In the late eighth century BC, God's people in the Promised Land had become divided into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah. Among outside hostile forces, Assyria was the dominant power in the region. A fourth nation, Syria, was also vying for power, and trying to recruit Israel to support its ambitions.   The kings of Israel and Judah started cooperating in political schemes to insure their nations’ safety, instead of relying faithfully on the Lord God to sustain them. This was the situation in which Isaiah received God’s mission to speak God’s word to the kings and people of Judah and Israel. Yahweh permitted Isaiah to experience His magnificence in a vision in the Temple of Jerusalem.  Experiencing the glory of God, Isaiah at once confessed his unworthiness, calling out, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.” In the presence of God’s holiness, Isaiah became painfully aware of his own sinful human nature. However, when cleansed by God, he was ready for His ministry:  "Here I am. Send me!" God gave him the courage to speak His word, interpret His will, and call His people and their leaders to repent and return to God’s ways. “Today’s scene from Isaiah is recalled in every Mass. Before reading the Gospel, the priest silently asks God to cleanse his lips that he might worthily proclaim His Word.” (Scott Hahn).

Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 15:1-1, explained: Some Corinthian Christians questioned Paul's authority and disputed the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Paul silenced them by presenting the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus. Then he recounted the story of how he had been chosen to be an apostle to the Gentiles by the Risen Lord who appeared to him on his trip to Damascus. But Paul confessed his unworthiness to be an apostle because of his former persecution of Christians and gave the full credit to God for his call to the ministry:  "By the grace of God I am what I am.”  That is, it was only by the grace of God that Paul was claiming the designation of "apostle" and only by that authority that he proclaimed the Gospel, toiling harder than the other apostles. He reminded the Corinthians that he had already passed on to them the traditional confession of Faith about Jesus’ death and Resurrection, which he had received personally from Christ Himself. Hence, the Corinthians should not doubt his teaching about the resurrection, lest they forfeit salvation and wind up having believed in vain. A real Faith not only accepts the content of God's message but involves a total surrender of one's self and all one has into God's hands. Our response to God’s grace must   be like that of Paul.

Gospel Exegesis: Epiphany on the sea: The story of the miraculous catch of fish described in today’s Gospel is similar to the post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus recounted in John 21:4-14.   In both accounts, the apostles at first fail to recognize who Jesus is, then receive a revelation of his true identity. This prompts a full confession of Faith from Simon Peter to which Jesus responds by commissioning him as the representative of the disciples.  In this sense, both narratives are Epiphanies in which Jesus reveals himself to the world as the Messiah —for Jesus does what only God can do.  The point of this story lies, not in the miraculous catch, but in the confession of Peter and his commissioning by Jesus.  

The fishermen and fishing: The scene is the Sea of Galilee (Gennesaret in Greek and Tiberias in Latin). This body of water is thirteen miles long and seven and a half miles wide.  In Jesus’ time, there were ten prosperous towns situated around the lake. Most of the people residing in them made their living from the waters in front of them. Thus, one gets the idea of how rich the lake was in fish. The Sea of Galilee was the site of many manifestations of Jesus’ Divine power.  In the incident in today's Gospel, Jesus preached from Peter's boat to a large crowd jammed together at the edge of the water. When the teaching had ended, Jesus told Peter to pull out into deeper water for a catch of fish.  In matters of fishing, Peter was an expert, while Jesus was only a carpenter. Hence Peter, perhaps not wanting Jesus to look foolish, explained, "Master, we have worked hard all night long, caught nothing." Peter might have added that   fish come to the surface in the Sea of Galilee only at night, or that the presence and noise of people would frighten the remaining fish away.   Instead he said, “Nevertheless, if You wish it, I will lower the nets.”

 Hope against hope:  That declaration of trust was what made the miracle that followed possible. We may assume that Jesus smiled a little, indicating that he understood Peter’s point and still wanted the fisherman to take the boat out into deeper water.  So, Peter obeyed.   This time, however, instead of pulling up an empty net, Peter and Andrew found the net was filled to bursting point, and they had to ask the help of their partners, Zebedee’s sons, James and John, to help them bring in the catch.   Simon Peter understood the message very quickly. Confronted by the size of the catch, he recognized the presence of God before him and became convinced of his own pride and self-centeredness, that is, of his sinfulness. We find the same response in all three readings today. Isaiah, seeing the glory of God in his vision, says, "What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips... and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts." Paul, not particularly known for his modesty, says, "I am the least of the apostles... I hardly deserve the name apostle." Peter begs Jesus to go away. His simple confession --“Leave me Lord. I am a sinful man.” -- marks a turning point in his life and becomes the model for our response to Jesus.  Jesus seized the opportunity to proclaim Peter's mission, a call Peter was able to receive because he had seen the tremendous power of God.     Thus, Peter became the first person in the Gospel to acknowledge his sinfulness.   He is also the first apostle to be called by Jesus. Today’s Gospel concludes with an inspiring image of commitment: “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11). 

The abundance miracle: The miraculous catch of fish is a miracle of abundance and resembles other "abundance" miracles such as the sending of manna to Israel in the wilderness (Ex 16),  the widow’s never-empty meal jar and oil jug (1 Kgs 17:8-16), the necessary supply of oil for the lamps for  the rededication ceremony of the  Temple (2 Kgs 4:1-7), and Elisha's feeding of a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread (2 Kgs 4:42-44). Later in this same Gospel, we will see Jesus feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish (9:12-17). The Gospel of John reports another abundance miracle, the wine Jesus supplied at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11).     All these "abundance" miracles have two common characteristics: (1) they meet human needs and (2) they demonstrate God's power. The spiritual outcome of this particular miracle was that the disciples, "left everything and followed [Jesus]" (v. 11).

 Dimensions of discipleship: The Gospel reading today displays the three dimensions of discipleship: (1) the recognition of the power of Jesus, (2) the response of confession, and (3) the assurance of success when we follow God’s word. Peter's commission is one which is repeated often in the New Testament (Lk 9:20, 22:32; Jn 21:1ff; Mt 16:16ff).   Peter and the other disciples were given the privilege of sharing in Christ's work of gathering people to God. As they shared in gathering the fish, so now they would share in gathering "lost" human beings. Simon’s response was similar to the responses made in Old Testament human encounters with God. As he stood before the burning bush, Moses confessed his disqualifications for leadership, particularly his inability to speak well.   (Ex 3:11-4:17, esp. 4:10).  Later in the Bible, when God came to Solomon in a dream, Solomon declared that he was not wise enough to govern God’s people and asked for an “understanding heart” (1 Kgs 3:7-9).   Likewise, when God called Jeremiah, the prophet recognized the inadequacy of his youth to take on this mission (Jer 1:6).

Who are called as the fishers of men? It is not true that Christ’s invitation to become “fishers of men” is addressed only to the apostles and their successors (the bishops together with the priests and religious). Every Christian is commissioned to a ministry of love and justice by virtue of his/her Baptism. One of the documents of Vatican II, Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ), in paragraph no. 31 describes all of us very clearly as, “the faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ’s Body and are placed in the people of God and in their own way share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.” In addition to this, Vatican II’s Apostolicam Actuositatem (The Apostolate of the Laity), no. 3 says, “Incorporated into Christ’s Body through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, the laity are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself.” It is even stated that where lay involvement is lacking, “the apostolate of the pastors will frequently be unable to obtain its full effect; where lay responsibility is absent, the Church is incomplete,” (Apostolicam Actousitatem nos. 10, 21, PCP II).

Life Messages: 1) We need to pray that our encounters with the holiness of God may lead us to recognize our sinfulness. The Good News of today’s Gospel is that our sinfulness -- our pride and self-centeredness – does not repel God. Our God is a God Who gives sinners a new start.   It is important that we acknowledge our sinfulness.  Our response must be modeled on that of the tax collector in the parable:   "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13). The recognition of our inadequacy and sin is necessary for us, if we are to be willing and able to receive transformation through God’s grace. Isaiah, Paul, and Peter teach us that even the greatest person among us stands in need of conversion. God, Who calls us and commissions us for His service, wants us to realize His presence everywhere and in everyone, to repent of our sins and to remain in readiness to speak and act for Him in our life-circumstances as He shall direct.

2) We need to teach and practice expressions of reverence for the Lord.     Today’s world desperately needs a "revival of reverence."  We need both to recognize God as God and to express that reverence for God through appropriate bodily gestures.  For example, when we come into Church, we enter the presence of Jesus dwelling in the tabernacle. We need to remember that this is His house, a part of Heaven, and we need to express that remembrance by making a deep bow toward the tabernacle, or, if we are able to kneel, by genuflecting on the right knee before we enter the pew. We should offer him the same reverent recognition when we leave the Church and His Sacramental Presence.   We might also remember to give a slight bow of the head whenever we hear, or say, the name of Jesus.  The new regulation of bowing one’s head before receiving Communion is another beautiful act of reverence. This same sense of reverence can be expressed by keeping the Bible, God’s living word to us, in a prominent place in our homes and by kissing it each time we read from it.   True reverence for God naturally leads us to the reverent, respectful love of neighbor. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), loved people because she saw Jesus in them. That was the same Jesus Whom she reverenced and experienced in the Holy Eucharist. We, too, will have many opportunities for daily experiences of Christ. So the heart of our mission as Christians is really to find Jesus hidden in our neighbors, and to accept his challenge to us – to love him, to have compassion on him, to practice justice toward him, to be kind to him there.   Then it becomes easier for us to forgive injury as Jesus did, and to be reconciled to those with whom we have difficulties.   Thus, our mission as Jesus’disciples is to seek, to find, and to respond to Him in all people and events.

3) Each of us has a unique mission in the Church.   God has a different call for each of us. Because each of us is unique, each of us has a mission which no one else can fulfill.  God will use all of us, and particularly what is unique in us, to bring this mission to fulfillment.  Our response must be like that of Isaiah: “Here I am, Lord…send me."  "I’ll do it.  I’ll play my part.  I’ll speak to that neighbor, that coworker, that friend, that relative.  I’ll talk to my daughter about the way she is rearing her children. I’ll keep my mouth shut and refuse to gossip or criticize my co-workers or my bosses. I’ll pray every day. I’ll learn to listen patiently to those in need.  With Your help, I’ll do it.”  

Joke of the week

1) Catching fish from the shop: A man had spent fruitless day fishing. He didn't want to go home empty-handed. He decided to stop at a local fish market. "I'd like three good sized fish," he said to the clerk. "But before you wrap them, toss them to me, one by one." The clerk looked puzzled at his request, "Sir? That's a strange thing to ask." Smiling the man said, "This way I'll be able to tell my wife truthfully that I caught them!"

2) “I am a fisher of men." The Reverend Dr. McStuffed-Shirt encountered one of his less-than-faithful parishioners returning from a day's fishing and engaged him in conversation. "Ah, Brother Jones," he began in his best preaching tone, "You are a fine fisherman, but I am a fisher of men." Jones, determined to get home after a long day, replied, "So I have heard. But I was passing your Church last Sunday, looked in the window, and noticed you had not caught too many..."

3) Priest Plays Hooky: The pastor was a fisherman, but he hadn't fished in months. One perfect Sunday morning he couldn't resist. He called up his associate priest and claimed he had laryngitis. The priest then headed out to his favorite spot. The hook hadn't been in the water five minutes before he got a strike and landed the biggest fish he had ever caught - although he had seen bigger ones caught by others. A half hour later, he caught the biggest fish he had ever seen. Another forty-five minutes later he landed a fish that broke the world record. All this time St. Peter and God have been watching the priest from Heaven. St. Peter turned to God, and said, "How can you reward this priest? He lied. He doesn’t observe the Sunday obligation." God smiled at St. Peter, and replied, "I'm punishing him." St. Peter was confused, so God continued, "Well, after he finishes, whom can he tell his story to?"

4) Walking on water: Three ministers were out on a lake fishing one fine afternoon in a boat, a Protestant minister, an Episcopalian priest and a newly-arrived Catholic priest. They were sitting out in the middle of the lake and the Protestant minister said he had to relieve himself, so he got out of the boat and walked across the water to shore, relieved himself behind a tree. Then walked back to the boat. The Episcopalian priest did the same thing. The Catholic priest thought to himself, if they can do it, so can I. So he stepped out of the boat and started sinking. After saving him and bringing him back on the boat one minister commented: "We should have told him where the rocks are under the water!"

Useful Websites of the week for Catholic world news & views

1)http://www.cwnews.com/   2) http://www.catholic.org/

3) http://www.catholicnews.com/  4) http://www.zenit.org/english/

4) http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/headlines.asp

5) http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/DailyNews/todays.asp

6) Text Week homilies on Lk 5: 1-11: http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk5.htm

26- Additional anecdotes:

1) Call answered as a continuous process:  There is a story about a sophomore who worked in the library at Princeton, New Jersey to earn money to help with his education. One night about closing time, he was walking around the empty halls of the library when he noticed in the very back corner amid an old stack of books, an old man reading and taking notes furiously. The old man was very intent. The librarian became a little curious, so he went back to the old man and said, "My, what are you studying so intently?" The old man looked up long enough to say, "Well, I'm a student of physics." The young librarian said, "Well, last year I took a course in physics and I think I have all I need for an understanding of physics." He then turned and walked back to his desk. You can imagine his chagrin a few minutes later when the old man checked out some books, and on his library-card was the name Albert Einstein. God's call is a calling to a process, not to a single task. Today’s Scripture readings about the calls of Isaiah, Peter and Paul remind us that our calling is to a lifelong process of obedience, service and surrender to God in which we grow daily more like Jesus. There is nothing in the world more joyful than that. There is nothing in the world more challenging.

2)Impala problem: One of the few creatures on earth that can out-jump Michael Jordon is the Impala. This is an African deer with a supercharged spring. It has a vertical leap of over 10 feet and can broad-jump over 30 feet. You would think that the zoos of the world would find it impossible to keep such an animal enclosed. Not so! It's rather easy. The experts discovered something about the Impala. It will not jump unless it can see where it is going to land. Therefore, a solid wall even 6 feet tall is a sufficient enclosure. Lots of Christians have the Impala problem. They won't take a leap of Faith unless they have all the answers in advance about where the leap will take them. But God is looking for some bold believers who, even in the face of the unknown, will leap when the Spirit says leap, will fly when the Spirit says fly, will launch when the Spirit says launch, all to the glory of the Lord. Why must we be willing to launch out into the deep with the Lord? Because our Lord was willing to launch out into the deep for us. Today’s Scripture passages present Isaiah, Paul and Peter who dared to make a leap of Faith.

3) "Hop into my wheelbarrow. I'll wheel you across!" There's a wonderful story of a tightrope walker, who was challenged to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls. Everything was in place. There were huge steel struts on either side of the canyon and a strong, steel tightrope. There were television cameras, reporters and a massive crowd. But there was no safety net. The tightrope walker appeared with a wheelbarrow, which he had decided to push in front of him across the rope. The crowd cheered him on, although some begged him not to make this foolish attempt. One voice in the crowd was more vociferous than the rest: "Go on! You can do it! I know you can! Don't listen to these pessimists. I have complete faith in you." The tightrope walker turned to the speaker and asked, "You have faith in me? You're certain? You know I can do it?" The speaker emerged from the crowd and nodded. "I'm absolutely certain. I have no doubts at all. You can do it!" "OK," said the tightrope walker. "Hop into my wheelbarrow. I'll wheel you across!" Amazingly, the speaker climbed into the wheelbarrow. And the tightrope walker wheeled him safely across to the other side. What incredible, courageous, foolhardy faith! Today’s Gospel describes Peter's leap to a much deeper and stronger Faith in Jesus and His ministry through Jesus’ response to Peter’s trusting obedience, His gift of a miraculous haul of fish at the Lake of Gennesaret.

4) "Can you balance a ball on the end of your nose?" There was a man who took great pride in being a former Navy Seal. And why not? This is an elite group. It takes a special sailor to qualify as a Navy Seal. This man tells about sharing his military exploits with his grandson's kindergarten class. This former Seal regaled the children with his war stories. After he finished, hands shot up into the air all over the classroom. The kids were eager to ask questions. "So," asked one little girl, "can you balance a ball on the end of your nose?" Well, to be sure, a Navy Seal ought to be able to balance a ball on the end of his nose. Life has a way of humbling us, doesn't it? We think we are impressing people, and all they want is to see us balance a ball on the end of our nose. Our Scriptures for today all have one thing in common: Isaiah, Paul and Peter met God and were humbled.

5) Failure of Leonardo da Vinci. Failure is not a dirty word--and yet we sometimes act as if it is. Every great person fails at some time in his or her life. Leonardo da Vinci did. In addition to his incredible talents in painting and sculpting, da Vinci was also a mathematician, philosopher, master chef, architect, athlete, and inventor. But even great geniuses can experience failures, sometimes, great ones. One of da Vinci's biggest blunders occurred when he was working in the household of an Italian nobleman, Ludovico Sforza. Sforza put da Vinci in charge of planning a banquet for two hundred guests. Leonardo intended to sculpt all the food into tiny artistic masterpieces. He created a fully automated kitchen in Sforza's mansion in order to feed that many people. But the night of the banquet, everything fell apart. The conveyor belt da Vinci had installed broke down and started a fire. Next, the sprinkler system he had created kicked in to put the fire out. Soon, the whole kitchen was flooded. The banquet had to be called off. [Michael J. Geb. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (New York: Dell Publishing, 1998), p. 79.] Have you known failure? Have you felt you were a failure? Have you had nights when the fish just don't bite? I have. I have felt I was a failure. I have been like Simon Peter toiling all night, giving my best, maybe working too hard, yet at the end of the day, my nets felt empty!

6) "Oh God, here am I, send me. Send me!" William Bausch tells the story of a nun who received some extra grant money. She worked as a chaplain in a women's prison in Chicago. She went to the women and said, "I have some money that I want to spend on you and I'm going to give you some options: 1) I can hire an attorney to come and talk with you on how you can shorten your sentences; 2) I can hire a welder to come in and teach you to weld so that you can have a marketable skill when you leave the prison; or 3) I can hire a dancer and a painter to teach you how to dance and how to paint." Ninety-five percent chose the dancer and the painter because, as they said, "They always wanted to express themselves, but never had the chance." That puts God's calling where it should be and that is in a positive light. The most fulfilling, the most expressive, the most joyful experience you will ever know in your life is walking in the middle of God's will for your life. Hear the invitation, and say, "Oh God, here am I, send me. Send me!"

7) “Everything for sale” as Satan is going out of business: There is a legend that tells about the time the devil decided to close up shop in one part of the world and open up in another.  A “going-out-of-business” sale was announced. One of the first customers, being quite fascinated with the various evil instruments on display, noticed that of all the devil’s tools, the highest priced one was called “discouragement.” “Why is this one so expensive?” he inquired. “Quite simple,” replied the devil.  “It’s my favorite. With the tool of discouragement, I can pry into almost everyone’s life and cause all kinds of damage.” Today’s Scripture lessons tell us that God calls weak and sinful men like Isaiah, Paul, and Peter to His ministry and fills them with His Spirit to free them from all feelings of discouragement when this attack. All they have to do is to ask and receive His help.  

8) Legal permanent resident: One hundred three miles of open water separates the most southern tip of Florida from the most northern coast of Cuba. It’s a stretch of water that has claimed hundreds of lives since the Cuban revolution. Flotillas of “boat people,” seeking freedom and family in the US, have created desperate “boats” out of anything that might possibly float long enough to reach US soil. The goal of these “boat people” is simple: hit dry land. As long as these refugees are in the water, they are Cubans. As of 1995 the US has agreed either to return rescued or captured "boat people" to Cuba or transport them to a neutral third country. But once these soggy sailors’ feet hit dry land they are instantly transformed. They have the right to stay in the US for at least a year. That qualifies them to get expedited “legal permanent resident” status and eventually even perhaps US citizenship. The moment a Cuban refugee has “dry feet,” a whole new future welcomes him or her. The first disciples Jesus calls in Luke’s Gospel are “dry feet” disciples. But they didn’t become dry-feet disciples until they were willing to be "boat people." They launched into deep water at Jesus’ command. Once out there, they saw and experienced things over which they had no control. Things they knew with their hearts and souls were sure evidence of God’s providence and sovereignty.

9) The challenging invitation: Many years ago, the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake, was attempting to recruit a number of young men for an upcoming exploration. He gathered them around and told the group that, if they came with him, they would see some of the most marvelous things their eyes could ever behold – sandy white beaches, juicy fruits, foreign peoples, priceless treasures, and gorgeous landscapes. And he told them that this wild adventure could be theirs if they came with him. Not one of them enlisted for the journey. The next day a different group came out. Drake told them that if they came with him they would encounter storms that would terrify them to tears. Tiger winds would hammer them and blow them off course for months. Water would frequently be scarce. At times they would be so thirsty that their very souls would cry out for simply one drop of water. In short, danger would always be their constant companion. Drake concluded by declaring that if they could handle these things, the joys of exploration would exceed their wildest dreams. Every single one of them in the group joined Sir Francis Drake that day. Some did not even go home to say goodbye to their families! They just boarded the ship, eager for the journey. What is it about Jesus' message that made the disciples eager for the journey? They were made eager because first, Jesus offered them a change. The paths that are offered to us must promise to shape us, build our character, change our world-view, if they are to have any appeal to us at all. If we are presented with a challenge that will change us, we will be eager for the journey.

10) Prompt response to God’s call: Dr. Paul Brand was a physician who volunteered in India as the first orthopedic surgeon to work with leprosy patients. He listed as his reference Henri Nouwen, a former professor at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard, who ended up devoting his life to the mentally handicapped in institutions in France and Toronto. Neither of these men had a low opinion of his own worth or abilities. In spite of that, and because of their relationship with God, they chose to serve the least and the lowest. (Philip Yancey, "Humility's Many Faces," Christianity Today, December 4, 2000). Isaiah writes: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I; send me!'" That was Isaiah's response, "Send me." Paul's response was: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain.”

11) “We could change the world." In James Goldman's novel, The Lion in Winter, there is a scene where three sons wrestle for the right to succeed King Henry. John tells his mother Eleanor that his brother Richard has a knife. Listen as she captures the base instinct of humanity and then offers a better way: "Of course (your brother) has a knife. We all have knives--we are barbarians--we are the origins of war--we breed war. For the love of God," she continues, "can't we love one another--just a little? That's how peace begins. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world" (James Goldman, The Lion in Winter, pp. 55-56). After Simon and Andrew, James and John had fished all night and failed to catch any fish, Jesus came to them and made life right. Jesus' order to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch," is both a challenge and a promise. Challenge: We must never be afraid to try again. Promise: the long night passes into day and we live to put our nets down for another day, expecting the providence of God. We have such possibilities. We could change the world.

12) “I’ll do it myself. I’ll do it myself.” It was just after midnight on November 20, 1988. A 19-year-old Los Angeles woman apparently fell asleep behind the wheel of her car. The car plunged through a guardrail and was left dangling by its left rear wheel. That one wheel was all that prevented the young woman from falling to a certain death. A half dozen passing motorists stopped and attempted to help. One of them had some ropes in his vehicle. They tied the ropes to the back of the young woman’s car and hung on until the fire units arrived. A ladder was extended from below to help stabilize the car while firefighters tied the vehicle to tow trucks with cables and chains. “Every time we would move the car,” said one of the rescuers, “she’d yell and scream. She was in pain. ”It took almost 2 1/2 hours for the rescuers, about 25 of them in all, to secure the car and pull the woman to safety. “It was kinda funny,” L.A. County Fire Capt. Ross Marshall recalled later. “She kept saying, “I’ll do it myself. I’ll do it myself.” (http://www.holwick.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=679:1-samuel-18-6-12 every-crutch-kicked&catid=38:1-a-2-samuel&Itemid=11.) People are funny like that. “I’ll do it myself.” Against all evidence to the contrary, we somehow think we don’t need other people. And we think we don’t need God. We are going to meet three men in today’s Scripture, Isaiah, Paul and Peter, three men who had their lives radically changed by God. We’re going to see how God changed their lives, and, with His help, we are going to ask God to do the same for us.

13) "Atlas complex” You may have heard the expression, "He has an Atlas complex." This usually refers to an individual who seems to have an exaggerated sense of his or her own importance. Or it may refer to the person who feels that he or she is the only one who can do a certain job, make important decisions, take care of himself/herself or other people. It is helpful for us to remember the Greek legend of Atlas. Atlas is the Titan of Greek mythology, guardian of the Pillars of Heaven who took part in the Titans' rebellion against Zeus and the gods. The great and powerful Zeus won the battle of course, in part because he was assisted by his famous 100-handed monster. The punishment which Atlas received was the job of replacing the Pillars of Heaven and holding up the sky on his own shoulders [M. C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, The Concise Oxford companion to Classical Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 72]. The story of Atlas is, of course, a myth. However, we both know that there are many people who go through life holding the weight of the world on their shoulders. Instead, let us learn to surrender ourselves to God, receive His strength and do what He commands us to do.

14) “But the fog is not on the maps." Several years ago, two land surveyors were sent from a large city in Wales to survey the mountains in North Wales. For a week, they stayed in an isolated cabin in shepherd country. Every day they went out with maps, compasses, and charts checking the countryside and the valleys. Several days into the first week, an old shepherd came up to them and said, "Might be best if I go with you tomorrow." They said, "No, there's no need for that. We have our maps and charts. We'll be fine. We have everything we need." The old shepherd said again, "It might be best if I went with you tomorrow." "No, we have our maps and charts. We know these hills just like you. We'll be okay." And the old shepherd said, "You may have your maps, but the fog is not on the maps." There come times in our lives when all the charts, maps, and other resources are insufficient. There come times when we can only do God's work in His power and in his strength. It is an awesome, humbling, and revealing experience to stand before the miracle worker as He reaches out and calls us.

15) "What fish?" A man was stopped by a game-warden in a State Park with two buckets of fish leaving a lake well known for its fishing. The game warden asked, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?" The man replied to the game warden, "No, sir. These are my pet fish." "Pet fish?" the warden replied. "Yes, sir. Every night I take these here fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take 'em home." "That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!" The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, "Here, I'll show you. It really works." "OK. I've GOT to see this!" The game warden was curious. The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said, "Well?" "Well, what?" the man responded. "When are you going to call them back?" the game warden prompted. "Call who back?" the man asked. "The FISH!" "What fish?" the man asked.

16)  "Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm." A cold winter day. An old man walked out onto a frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice, dropped in his fishing line, and waited patiently for a bite. He was there for almost an hour, without even a nibble, when a young boy walked out onto the ice, cut a hole in the ice next to him. The lad dropped his fishing line and minutes later he hooked a Largemouth Bass. The old man could not believe his eyes but chalked it up to plain luck. Shortly thereafter, the young boy pulled in another large catch. He kept catching fish after fish. Finally, the old man could take it no longer. "Son," he said, "I have been here for over an hour without even a nibble. You have been here only a few minutes and have caught a half dozen fish! How do you do it?" The boy responded, "Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm." "What was that?" the old man asked. Again the boy responded, "Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm." "Look," said the old man, "I can't understand a word you're saying." The boy leaned over, brought his hand to his mouth and spat out a mess of bait. He said again, "You have to keep the worms warm!" You know, there may well be a lesson in that for us too. If we are going to "catch people" as Jesus said, we had better use attractive bait.

17) "Nevertheless!" What a glorious Faith word is "Nevertheless!" Are you willing to say it today whatever your circumstances may be? An 80-year-old man says, "Lord, I have cancer and my chances of beating it are almost nil. I really would like for my doctor to help me overdose so I can just exit as quickly as possible. What possible purpose could I still have on this earth? (But here comes that word) ..."NEVERTHELESS, if You want me to model a Faith that not even cancer can touch, if You want me to cast my burden upon You and allow You to sustain me, if You want me to show all these younger people how to die as well as live, with courage and conviction. ..Then Lord, I will launch into the deep with You."

Consider another example. A middle-aged couple is heartbroken. Their 19-year-old son is hooked on drugs. He even steals items from the home in order to pawn them and buy drugs. These distraught parents cry out to God in all honesty, saying, "Lord, we don't deserve this misery. We gave the boy every advantage. He grew up in the lap of luxury. Sure, we made some mistakes; perhaps we were overly indulgent. But, who doesn't make mistakes? We are tempted not only to kick him out of the house, but also to kick him out of our hearts. He no longer deserves to be called our son." Then here comes that word again! "NEVERTHELESS, if You want us to persevere with that boy, we will try. If You will help us demonstrate tough love, we will. If You can break into his hard, cold, addicted heart, we will keep up our vigil of love and prayer."

The Scriptural message should be abundantly clear. At crucial living, Jesus calls us to take risks, to launch out with him into the deep. Everything that is prudential, timid, and conservative tells us to play it safe. Dare we step up with Simon Peter and declare boldly, "NEVERTHELESS, I will launch out into the deep with my Lord!"?

18) Best Fantasy Film of the Year." In the spring of 1978, the film, Oh God! was given an award. It was a film that portrayed the message that God cares about people, that God comes to people, and He wants people to be happy. Do you know the award that film received? "Best Fantasy Film of the Year." To some people, it is a fantasy that God cares for us; that God loves us and comes to us in the ordinary affairs of our life. To some, it is a fantasy! Why? If we truly believe that God comes to us, speaks to us, calls out to us, then we, too, have to place the net where He tells us, in spite of the fact that we think we know better. That is what this Church is trying to do. When Simon saw the miracle and stood face-to-face with the miracle worker, he fell to his knees at Jesus' feet and said, "Get away from me! I am unclean! Get away from me! I am a sinful man!" Confrontation with Jesus was not a fantasy for him.( https://youtu.be/ORgQ-i1eFdw)

19)  Victor not vanquished: Many years ago a little boy in the U.S.A. was badly burnt in a school fire. So severe was the damage to his limbs and muscles that the doctors predicted that he would never walk again. To his good luck, however, that little boy had a mother, who, though illiterate, was staunch in her Christian faith. Against all odds she believed her son would recover and get well. Day after day, sometimes for hours, that devoted mother would massage the scarred, seemingly lifeless legs of her little boy, even as he cried with pain, and would say to him: “Don’t worry, my boy, you will not only walk someday, but you will run.” To the cynical and the pessimistic, that was mere wishful thinking, in fact absolute nonsense. But that noble mother firmly believed her son was going to be victor and not the vanquished. And he was – in 1934 he set the world’s record for running a mile in 4 minutes 6.7 seconds. His name? Glen Cunningham! –After spending an entire night fishing without success, the apostle Peter, a seasoned fisherman, was very disappointed and depressed. He was ready to brand himself a failure. Then Jesus who was not a fisherman stepped in and urged him not to give up but try another strategy. So Peter could choose between being branded a failure or hailed a success. And Peter decided wisely on the latter – he was going to be a victor and not the vanquished. In the words of a Yiddish saying, ”From success to failure is one step. From failure to success is a long road.” (James Valladares in Your Words O Lord, are Spirit and They Are Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

20) Strengths and weaknesses In a certain Church there was a man in the choir who couldn’t sing very well. The choir director suggested that he should leave the choir. Others felt that he should be given more time to improve. The choir director then decided to go to the pastor and complain. “You have got to get that man out of the choir or else I am going to resign.” So the pastor went to the man and said to him, “Perhaps you should leave the choir.” “Why should I leave the choir?” the man asked. “Well” said the pastor, “four or five people have told me you cannot sing.” “That’s nothing,” the man replied, “forty or fifty people have told me you cannot preach!” – Our lives are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. We certainly try to maximize our strengths, but at the same time we may try to conceal our weaknesses so people can appreciate our strengths. We can even talk about the weaknesses of others, so people are not likely to notice ours. This weekend’s readings talk to us about ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

21) Faith is a gift: The famous author of The Song of Bernadette, Franz Werfel, gave an enthusiastic graduation talk at Mundelein College for girls in Chicago about the Blessed Virgin. This was all the more remarkable since the students knew that he was a Jew. During the short question period after the speech, one student asked him, “Mr. Werfel, if I am not getting too personal, could you explain how it is that you seem to know so much about the Catholic Church and its teachings and still you are not a Catholic?” “Yes,” he answered. “I can explain. Faith is a gift, and I have not yet received that gift.”(Frank Michalic in Tonic for the Heart; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

22) Film: Fisher King: This excellent movie is an exploration of the way in which the central character, a shock-jock radio host, seeks for forgiveness, having unwittingly incited a man to commit a massacre in a restaurant. He meets someone who has suffered a breakdown as a result of witnessing the massacre and tries in all sorts of ways to free himself of his own sense of guilt. The man he has met (played by Robin Williams), is convinced that the DJ has been sent to bring him a silver cup (actually a sporting trophy), which he thinks is the Holy Grail. The Robin Williams character repeatedly calls him to this task, but he dismisses it as ridiculous. Finally, though, when Robin Williams falls into a catatonic state, the repentant DJ realizes that, simply because the man needs the “grail” to get better he will retrieve it. The film strikes me as relevant to the theme of “call” because of the way in which it is circumstance, which compels the DJ, eventually, to do something only he can do. The act he is called to is ridiculous, but it is the doing of it which is really important. In fulfilling his “call” by doing something out of simple love, the DJ not only heals someone else but finds the freedom he has been seeking for himself. (Anonymous; from Text this Week; Quoted by Fr. Botelho).

23) Called to go forth in his name: Charles Spurgeon was a British preacher who had an experience of sudden conversion to Christianity in 1950 at age 15. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snowstorm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a primitive Methodist chapel where God opened his heart to the message of salvation. The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22 "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other." It is estimated that after his conversion, in his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to 10 million people. By his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons, and published 49 volumes of commentaries. Today's liturgy of the Word invites us to explore our own possibilities. (A.K. in The Sunday Liturgy; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

24) “You will not only walk someday, but you will run." Many years ago, a little boy in the USA, was badly burnt in a schoolhouse fire. So severe was the damage to his limbs and muscles that doctors predicted that he would never walk again. To his good luck, however, that little boy had a mother who, though illiterate, was staunch in her Christian faith. Against all odds, she believed that God could heal her son. Day after day, sometimes for hours, that devoted mother would massage the scarred, seemingly lifeless legs of her little boy, even as he cried with pain, and she would say to him: "Don't worry, my boy, you will not only walk someday, but you will run." To the cynical and the pessimistic, that was mere wishful thinking, in fact, absolute nonsense. The noble mother firmly believed her son was going to be victor not the vanquished. And he was - in 1934 he set the world's record in running a mile in 4 minutes 6.7 seconds. His name? Glenn Cunningham! -"Launch out into the deep!" said Jesus to the crestfallen Peter after his failure in catching any fish during the night, and to us. "Be not afraid!" said a certain Jim Vorsas: "The Lord gives us friends to push us to our potential -and enemies to push us beyond it." (James Valladares, in Your Words O Lord, Are Spirit and They Are Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

25) He can transform our weaknesses: There was a king who owned a large perfectly cut diamond. He was very proud of it and made it the national symbol. Unfortunately, the diamond one day got damaged and its beauty was marred by a long hair-like scratch. Its splendor was gone and its sparkle diminished. The king was very saddened. He gathered all the reputed jewelers for consultation. They all said that it had lost its splendor and value. In desperation the king sent our word throughout his kingdom, "Anyone who could repair the damaged diamond would be suitably rewarded." Finally, just when the king was about to give up the hope of restoring the stone, a poor lapidary gem engraver came forward to restore it. "Sir" he said to the king, "this same scratch which has diminished the diamond's worth will become its most beautiful asset." The king entrusted the man with the stone and many weeks passed before his return. Finally, when the lapidary opened his velvet box to display his craftsmanship, the king gasped in amazement. There was the stone -more beautiful than ever, with a beautiful rose carved on it. Only the king could detect that on the rose's graceful stem was the scratch that had once so ruined the diamond. Jesus is the master jeweler, who can transform the scratches, which dim and distort our lives into something that could shine and scintillate. (John Rose in John's Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).

26) “Do you know where you’re going?” Years ago, the British agnostic Thomas Huxley had to leave early one morning to go from one speaking assignment to another, so he got into a horse-drawn taxi to go from his hotel to the train station. He assumed that the hotel doorman had told the driver of the carriage that they were to go to the train station. So when he got in, he simply said to the driver, “Drive fast.” Off they went. After a short while, Huxley, who was somewhat familiar with the area, realized that they were actually going in the opposite direction from the train station. He yelled to the driver, “Do you know where you’re going?” Without looking back, the driver replied, “No, sir, but I’m driving very fast.”   Obviously, it doesn’t do much good to go fast if you’re not going in the right direction! Yet, many people, even Christians, are like that. Their lives are busy, they are going full bore, but they haven’t stopped to evaluate where they ought to be going. In Luke 5:1-11, we see the Lord Jesus helping some fishermen get their lives aimed in the right direction. (Bible.org) L/19

“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 13) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/for missed or previous Cycle B & C Homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of this homily.

Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.