"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8

 In the year that King Uzziah died

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.  They were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Saba­oth. All the earth is filled with his Glory!”

 At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke.  I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”

 Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  He touched my mouth with it and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”  Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!”

 

Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8

In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praises, Lord!

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

 Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm.  By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

 In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received: that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says;  that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures;  that he appeared to Ce­phas and then to the Twelve.  

Afterwards he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.  Then he appeared to James and after that to all the apostles.  And last of all, he appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

 For I am the last of the apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.  Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although not I, rather the grace of God in me.  Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊    

Luke 5:1-11

 One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God,   he caught sight of two boats left at the water’s edge by the fishermen now washing their nets.   He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat and continued to teach the crowd.

 When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”   Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.”  This they did and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.   They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

 Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”   For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made   and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebe­dee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.”   So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.

 

Gospel Reflection：

 Three-Pronged Revelation

Read:

The great vision of God’s holiness makes Isaiah intensely conscious of his own sinfulness. Paul confesses that whatever he is, is by the Grace of God working in him. The miraculous catch of fish brings Simeon Peter to his knees and a confession.

Reflect:

Revelation is always twin-revelation: who God is and who we are. Before the vision of the immense grandeur and holiness of God, Isaiah can only become self-conscious of his own sinfulness. Before the miraculous catch of that Jesus worked, Peter can only murmur: “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

And Paul knows very well that he was so despicable that he neither merited a visitation from God nor the title apostle. This self-awareness is invariably a consciousness of the vast gulf existing between God’s goodness and holiness, and our creatureliness and sinfulness.

Thankfully, within this gulf plays God’s Grace that transforms us into whom God desires us to be-as it happened with Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. So, perhaps I should correct myself: Revelation is always three-pronged: Who God is, who we are, and who we can be, by God’s Grace.

Pray:

“Lord, give me true self-knowledge so that I know and love you more.”

Act:

Receive the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) this week.