Friday, 22 March 2019

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C. By Tobe Eze


5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C.

First Reading
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Gospel
Luke 5:1-11
THEME: GOD REVEALS OUR TRUE SELF.
Sometimes our true self is hidden also to us not only to others. Isaiah, Paul and Peter who are characters in today’s readings did not know their true self till they encountered God. What are the things that are necessary for this encounter? Our state of life may not be necessary but our disposition is what is needed. Isaiah was in the temple praying and he experience the glory of God and his true self came out. Paul was on his way to fight for what he believed to be truth when he encountered the Lord. Peter was doing his job that he has mastered for years when he encountered the Lord. Likewise we can encounter the Lord in different ways in our live. Continue Reading.........................

The first reading is bringing to us one of the ways we can see our true self. Isaiah was in the temple praying. We can encounter the Lord in the temple. When he encountered the Lord, he recognized his weakness and the Lord helped him in solving it. It is not that we do not encounter God in the temple (Chapel) these days but we always do not recognize that we are sinners with unclean lips and living among people of unclean lips. We try to beatify ourselves before God and deny ourselves thee ability of recognizing our true nature or self.
The second reading going the same way with the first reading is telling us to search for the truth and when we see it, we should accept it. We have been searching for truth almost all our lives and it comes to us almost everyday but after everything, we will leave it and start looking for another thing again that is not the truth in the name of truth. Paul after his encounter with Christ did not look for truth again rather, he embraced the truth in Christ and worked very hard to protect it.
In the Gospel, Peter and others were busy doing their work and they encountered Jesus there. We still can encounter Jesus in our daily work but the problem is that we are not allowing him to show us our real self.

What are the things that are hindering us from knowing our real self? Peter did not refuse Jesus using his boat to preach even when they were ready to go home, some of us are denying God from using our boats to preach and that hinds us from encountering God  and it makes our true self hidden. Our boats may be our, time, money, energy, parents, children, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, relations, and friends and so on. Let me take parents only. Some parents do not allow their children to participate in anything about the church. When their children want to involve themselves in church’s activities that will be the time for them to send them from one errand to another. That will be the only time they will have to advise them on how the person behaves. It may be our time, wealth energy and so on that Jesus wants from us to reveal himself to us so that our true nature will come out but we deny him those thing.
Isaiah recognized himself and shouted that he was a man of unclean lips living among men of unclean lips and he was made clean. Paul recognized that he was at the wrong side and asked the Lord what to do when he encountered him and he was showed the way he should choose. Peter recognized that he was a sinner when he encountered Jesus and his situation was changed from fisherman to men fishing. Our own situation can also change if we accept that we are people of unclean lips living among people of unclean lips and ask for what we will do, Jesus will send us as fishers of men and no longer fishermen. Our true nature lies in God. We should accept God and our true nature will be reveal and we will be sent out like Isaiah, preach like Paul and catch men for God like Peter. THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY.

No comments:

Post a Comment