An identity, a mission and a promise...
5th Sunday in Ordinary time: 10th February, 2019Isaiah 6: 1-8; 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11; Luke 5: 1-11
We are called...by our very existence, our choices, our upbringing, our traditions, our context, our experiences, our adventures, our explorations, our convictions and our challenges... we are called! On a daily basis, we need to become aware of this call and respond to it whole heartedly! And not just aware of it, but longing for it. Because it is our identity, our mission and a promise from the Lord!
Our calling is our identity...not merely a tag!
A tag is not our identity, it changes as often as we decide or others decide to! Our call determines our identity, our deep seated understanding of ourselves. It is not something that is attached to us, with what we do and what we take up as a responsibility or occupation - it is the very thing that defines our identity!
We have a lot of tags attached to us: parents, children, brothers, sisters, priests, religious and so many other description of ourselves are all our tags... just like Simon, who was brother of Andrew, James and John who were sons, and all of them fishermen - their identity was something else and Jesus brings that out in his call: fishers of men!
A tag is not our identity, it changes as often as we decide or others decide to! Our call determines our identity, our deep seated understanding of ourselves. It is not something that is attached to us, with what we do and what we take up as a responsibility or occupation - it is the very thing that defines our identity!
We have a lot of tags attached to us: parents, children, brothers, sisters, priests, religious and so many other description of ourselves are all our tags... just like Simon, who was brother of Andrew, James and John who were sons, and all of them fishermen - their identity was something else and Jesus brings that out in his call: fishers of men!
Our calling is our mission...not merely a job!
Mission is life long, it is a process and not merely a performance. It is our life, its journey, its twists and its turns, its ups and its downs, its ebb and its flow: it is the way we live our life! A job is temporal, it begins and it ends while a mission is a process, it begins but instead of ending it runs towards its fulfillment. Our life is a mission, a process that runs towards its fulfillment.
St. Paul understood this perfectly and that is what he presented as his witness to the people, as we see in the second reading today. He traced for them the process that took place in his life, a process of change, transformation and transcendence. If only each of us can be mindful of the process our life takes, the various events that happen and the messages they communicate.
Mission is life long, it is a process and not merely a performance. It is our life, its journey, its twists and its turns, its ups and its downs, its ebb and its flow: it is the way we live our life! A job is temporal, it begins and it ends while a mission is a process, it begins but instead of ending it runs towards its fulfillment. Our life is a mission, a process that runs towards its fulfillment.
St. Paul understood this perfectly and that is what he presented as his witness to the people, as we see in the second reading today. He traced for them the process that took place in his life, a process of change, transformation and transcendence. If only each of us can be mindful of the process our life takes, the various events that happen and the messages they communicate.
Our calling is a promise...not merely the present!
There is much to look forward to, there are things that are unexpected, there is a need to put out into the deep and just wait for a surprise! When we are able to accept our limitedness in front of the Lord and surrender ourselves totally, we shall see the Lord at work in us. If our openness is true and sincere, we shall see things that we would have never even thought of. The proof is the Church that we have, born out of the labour of those who were considered weaklings and frightened fisherfolk, persecutors and zealots!
There is one strong and final message that we have:
There is much to look forward to, there are things that are unexpected, there is a need to put out into the deep and just wait for a surprise! When we are able to accept our limitedness in front of the Lord and surrender ourselves totally, we shall see the Lord at work in us. If our openness is true and sincere, we shall see things that we would have never even thought of. The proof is the Church that we have, born out of the labour of those who were considered weaklings and frightened fisherfolk, persecutors and zealots!
There is one strong and final message that we have:
The Lord who has called is there all the time, let us adventure in the Spirit!
