Sunday - February 06, 2022
"He who desires anything but God deceives himself, and he who loves anything but God errs miserably"
--St. Philip Neri
TODAY'S READINGS
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 75
Is 6:1-2a, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.
They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Reading 2 1 Cor 15:1-11
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
OR:
1 Cor 15:3-8, 11
Brothers and sisters,
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
Alleluia Mt 4:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come after me
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
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The Big Picture
Very often, the Lord gives us help even when we don't ask for it. We see this in what he did for Simon Peter, James and John in this Sunday's Gospel reading, when he provided a great catch of fish for them.
What's his motive? Was he rewarding these fishermen for lending him one of their boats? Do you think he does good things for you as a reward?
Well, it's not a reward. There's a bigger picture.
Note the pattern of Christ's interaction with us as illustrated by this Gospel story:
First, the fishermen already know Jesus; they call him "Master" because he's a master teacher and they are his students.
Second, Jesus helps them in an unexpected way.
Third, Jesus turns the gift into a calling.
Fourth, the disciples give up everything that could interfere with answering the call.
Whenever God intervenes in our lives, he does it to benefit us and others. We belong to a community, God's family; we are not in relationship with God as isolated individuals. By connecting ourselves to God in prayer, in the Eucharist, and in worship, we are connecting ourselves to everyone else and to his concerns for them.
Our prayers for help are never answered only for our sake. God always sees a bigger picture. And he always cares about everyone who's affected.
If it seems like God isn't responding to your pleas, it's because he's working on a bigger plan. He's coordinating how the answer to your prayers will help others -- many others.
God cares very much about your personal needs and desires, but he cares about everyone else, too, whether they ask for his help or not. And he is turning your needs into a calling, a ministry designed specifically for you. This means that the moment you begin asking for help, you are called by God to share his help with others.
By thinking beyond ourselves while waiting for our troubles to end, we find peace and hope and value in the hardships we endure. This is the vocation of daily life.
Today's Prayer
How beautiful it is to see Your works, Lord, through hearts that are docile to Your will! Give me the grace of following You, trusting You, and being obedient to Your voice. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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