Homily For Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 6th February, 2022

 Homily For Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 6th February, 2022

Readings: Is. 6:1-2.3-8; Ps.138; 1Cor.15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE AND RESPONSE TO GOD’S DIVINE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

There is something deep and unique about every person, sometimes it takes personal experience to discover this uniqueness. And in the process of discovering this uniqueness, we encounter so many challenges that have become part of our experience in life. So, I don't know if you have ever had an experience that made you realize the emptiness of this life, a kind of experience that turns your pride into humility, sinfulness into righteousness? This is the kind of experience  that prophet Isaiah and Simon and his companions had in our first reading and in the Gospel passage today. 

In the first reading we heard how prophet Isaiah saw all the great glory and majesty of God and was terrified at what he had seen. He was struck with great fear because he considered himself a great sinner unworthy to stand before God, but God sent his Seraphim to touch his lips, saying: your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged.’ Then he heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ in response to this invitation Isaiah said, ‘Here I am, send me. And he was chosen to be the bearer of God’s message to his chosen people.

This same experience is what Simon and his companions had with Jesus in our Gospel passage, that made Simon realize his emptiness and fell at the knees of Jesus confessing his unworthiness. This is because Jesus had said to Simon after preaching on his boat, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signaled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ 

This very experience brought true conversion in the lives of Simon and his companions, for this encounter changed their destiny from fishermen to fishers of men. For they obeyed the Lord who told them to put out into the deep waters, and as soon as they followed his instructions, they netted so much fish that the whole boat could not take it. This glorious event manifested the power and grace of God at work in us especially when we humble ourselves in obedient to God’s instructions and acknowledge our unworthiness before him. Little wonder St. Paul in our second reading made us to know how he received the Christian faith through the Holy Spirit and through the hands of the Apostles. For Paul, who as Saul was once the greatest enemy of all Christians, gained great insight of the faith and became one of the greatest evangelizers of the faith he once wished to destroyed.  

 

Dear friends, like prophet Isaiah, like Simon and his companions and also  like St. Paul, we are called to reflect on our personal experience and encounter with God. How have we personally experience God? When was our spiritual turning point? Do we have a personal conviction about God that does not based on what people have told us of him? In case we have not personally encountered him, all we need to do is to sincerely seek God in those common events in our lives. Then, we will realize how much God is willing to reveal himself to us through Jesus Christ his Son.

Therefore, today we are called to look into our lives, is there any sign of God’s divine presence in our hearts? Are there signs of God’s intervention in some situations around us, calling us to repentance? Are there signs of unworthiness in our hearts that makes us feel inferior to carryout some of our responsibilities? Are there voices calling us to embrace a particular apostolate and we feel unworthy to accept it or taking it for granted? Have we ever heard a voice calling us to stop indulging in immortality and wickedness? Have we ever heard the voice calling us to change our ugly attitudes of hatred, corruption, impurity, greediness and unforgiveness? 

How often have we rejected the voice calling us to holiness, purity, mercy, kindness, patience and love for God and for one another? How often have we turned down the request to be a special instrument of God’s message of truth and love? How often do we make resolutions and promises to God but have failed to honour and keep them? Today the Lord is calling us once again, what is he saying to you and what is your response to his request. O that today you will listen to his voice harden not your hearts.

LET US PRAY: heavenly Father, everyday is an opportunity to encounter you through different events that occur in our lives. Grant that we may have a personal experience of you just like Simon and his companion. May we experience you in a unique way in our daily activities and through this experience discover our purpose in life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed Sunday celebration.