
February 9, 2025
5th Sunday
Ordinary Time
FOCUS: In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Both Isaiah and Simon Peter stand in awe of the power of the Lord. Isaiah declares his lips unclean and Peter calls himself a sinful man. They recognize their own lowliness in the face of the Lord’s majesty. Paul reminds us that Christ died for our sins and was raised. When we confess our sinfulness, we also acknowledge God’s power to forgive us.
What's in Your Heart
In the readings this Sunday, the spiritual dynamic seems to be threefold: God draws near; sensing our own unworthiness, we protest; grace overcomes our weaknesses, failings, and fear, resulting in abundance far beyond our imagining.
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Do I get stuck at the second part of this dynamic, that is, hobbled by a sense of my own unworthiness?
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How do I move from protest to grace? Am I willing to hear God’s directive to “launch out into the deep”? Do I truly believe there is abundance awaiting me there?
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When in my life have I witnessed examples of great spiritual abundance such as Peter and the other fishermen discovered?
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To what, lately, am I being called to respond, “Here I am, Lord. Send me”?
Homily Stories
When a young intern was asked by a Catholic publisher how to improve a website promoting religious vocations, his main suggestion was to highlight the average salary a priest or nun receives. After the publisher’s lengthy explanation about the vows of poverty and the countercultural nature of religious life, the intern looked perplexed. “Hmm . . . OK,” he said, “but it’s not for me.” Confident in his future, he explained that he was headed for a career in finance and expected to have enough money saved to retire by 50.
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Years later, the publisher ran into the former intern—and was astonished to learn that he had recently entered a religious order and was soon to be ordained. The finance job that the young man had once coveted, and excelled in, hadn’t been right for him after all. The money was good, but it didn’t bring fulfillment. Eventually, he struck up a conversation with a co-worker whom he admired, and learned that the person was a practicing Catholic. Intrigued, the young man began considering a different path. One day, the long-ago intern, once so certain of his future, wandered into a church—and simply said, “Here I am, Lord.”
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