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“Call of the Sons of Zebedee”
by Marco Basaiti,1510 |
Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading I: Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.
They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
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Commentary on Is 6:1-2a, 3-8
The Prophet Isaiah tells us the story of his call: “In the year King Uzziah died” (742 B.C.). The prophet first relates his belief that he will die, since it is the common belief that no one who had not been purified could see the face of God and live. Then one of the seraphim took a coal from the fire at the altar (there would have been a fire for burning the holocaust, a sacrificial offering completely burnt as opposed to simply slaughtered), and flew to him.
With that coal, the seraphim touched Isaiah’s lips in symbolic cleansing, making the prophet worthy to proclaim God’s word. The Church remembers this event with the priest’s blessing of himself or the deacon before proclaiming the Gospel at Mass with the words: “May the Lord open my lips that I may proclaim the Holy Gospel worthily and well, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The reading closes with the phrase that has become a lyric that we express in the song: “Here I am Lord” and many other hymns.
CCC: Is 6:1 1137; Is 6:2-3 1138; Is 6:3 2809; Is 6:5 208, 2584; Is 6:6 332; Is 6:8 2584
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R. (1c) In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
“Great is the glory of the LORD.”
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving. The response we use in this song of thanksgiving and praise recalls for us Isaiah’s vision of the seraphim in Isaiah 6:2-7. We are also reminded of God’s saving power and his enduring faithfulness.
CCC: Ps 138 304; Ps 138:2 214
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Reading II
Longer Form: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, Christ appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 15:1-11
St. Paul delivers an apologia (a defense) on the basic tenet of the faith: Christ died for our sins and following his death there was a physical resurrection. He goes on to offer proofs that Jesus was raised from the dead by giving what amounts to a chronology of his post-resurrection appearances, in which he includes his own vision on the road to Damascus.
St. Paul concludes this selection as he professes his own witness, marking himself as least among the Apostles (because of his earlier role as emissary of the Sanhedrin, persecutor of the Church). It is supposed that this chapter is directed at refuting those who believe there was no physical resurrection.
CCC: 1 Cor 15:3-5 186; 1 Cor 15:3-4 639, 652; 1 Cor 15:3 519, 601, 619, 624; 1 Cor 15:4-8 642; 1 Cor 15:4 627; 1 Cor 15:5 552, 641; 1 Cor 15:7-8 857; 1 Cor 15:8 659; 1 Cor 15:9 752
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OR
Shorter Form: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11
Brothers and sisters,
I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one abnormally born,
he appeared to me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 15:3-8, 11
This shorter form of St. Paul’s synopsis of his profession of faith in Christ Jesus does not include the evangelist’s exhortation, that the community of Corinth had received and accepted the Lord. It is a straightforward profession of the reality of Jesus' resurrection and return following that event.
CCC: 1 Cor 15:3-5 186; 1 Cor 15:3-4 639, 652; 1 Cor 15:3 519, 601, 619, 624; 1 Cor 15:4-8 642; 1 Cor 15:4 627; 1 Cor 15:5 552, 641; 1 Cor 15:7-8 857; 1 Cor 15:8 659; 1 Cor 15:9 752
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Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
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Commentary on Lk 5:1-11
St. Luke’s Gospel presents the call of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John to discipleship. The Lord has demonstrated his authority through his teaching, and then through the miraculous catch of fish. We note the similarity of this incident with the post-resurrection incident recounted in St. John’s Gospel (John 21:1-11).
At Jesus' summons, Simon and the two sons of Zebedee leave all they have and follow the Lord. No mention is made here of Simon’s (Peter’s) brother Andrew who would also have been there, and in fact, as a disciple of John the Baptist, actually introduced the two (John 1:41 ff). We do hear that James and John, Zebedee’s sons were also there as Simon’s partners, and are called at the same time.
Simon Peter’s response to the Lord’s call is one of being sinful and therefore unworthy of the presence of the Lord. In response to Simon’s fearful humility, Jesus invites them all to leave what they have and become fishers of men.
CCC: Lk 5:8 208
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Reflection:
Today we hear about the call from God to ordinary people. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we hear part of his own call: How he had a vision of heaven and how God sent messengers to him, first, to purify him and then to invite him saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
How could Isaiah resist? He replies with words that have used as lyrics in a multitude of songs sung by Christians throughout the millennia: “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
In St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians the call is almost invisible, inserted, as it is, in the evangelist’s profession of faith in the resurrection. He simply reminds the Corinthians of his own conversion saying: “Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles.”
Finally, the Gospel of St. Luke tells us about the call of Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. They were called directly by the Savior, receiving the full force of God’s invitation. While he is not mentioned in this passage, St. Andrew, St. Peter’s brother, was also brought into membership with Christ at that time. These four became special friends of the Lord and shared a special bond.
As these stories are presented, we are reminded of another story. It was not spectacular and not many have heard it before. It is the story of a young man born in Ovid Center in upstate New York in the nineteenth century to Irish immigrants. His name was Patrick Shean and he was the third of five children in his family. His story comes mostly from letters between Patrick and his sister Mary. While he was intelligent and physically healthy, there was really nothing exceptional about him. His parents were good people and made sure all the children went to school and went to Mass regularly.
When Patrick was about ten years old, his sister noticed that Patrick was a very spiritual boy. He often helped the local priest at Mass and even in other ways with chores around the church grounds. According to Mary it was she who suggested to him that maybe he could be a priest one day. According to her, Patrick’s response was instantaneous. He told her she must be completely out of her mind. He was going to go west when he was old enough to take up a trade and become a merchant like Mr. O’Doul, who ran the local mercantile store.
For a quite a while, it appeared as if Patrick was going to do just that. He finished school surprisingly well and got a job with Mr. O’Doul. But something else seemed to be happening as well. He was drawn more and more to the Church. According to what he told his sister in strictest confidence because he didn’t want it getting out and tarnishing his reputation as a hardheaded businessman, he felt called do something more for God than just go to Mass and say his prayers.
Apparently, he was not as secretive as he thought about what he was feeling, because it wasn’t much later that he was completely surprised when Mr. O’Doul himself asked Patrick if he had thought of becoming a priest. Patrick told Mary later that he had been quite embarrassed by the question and explained to his employer that he really had plans of being just like Mr. O’Doul. To which O’Doul had shrugged and said if Patrick ever changed his mind, he’d help him pursue a vocation to the priesthood.
During the next few years three other people made the same suggestion, his best friend Jeremy (with whom Patrick had tipped over Mr. Engelhardt’s out-house as a prank one summer night), his mother, who had suggested it with the strangest look in her eyes, and finally his parish priest who as it turns out was an Oblate. Right up to the day Fr. Robert had asked, Patrick had denied that he could possibly have a vocation. But, in August of 1903, Patrick left for seminary in New York. The letters to Mary during that period showed that he was far from certain that he had made a good choice, and more than once he thought of returning to Mr. O’Doul. Each time these impulses came, it seemed that Patrick would either hear something from a classmate or get that feeling that God wanted more from him.
He was ordained a priest in1909 and ended up going west after all, as an Oblate priest headed for the wilds of Minnesota. His life as a priest was a blessing to those he served and while Fr. Pat Shean’s name is not one in the list being considered for sainthood, most who knew him were sure he was with them in Heaven.
We tell his story today not because he had a spectacular career, but rather because his call is so like the call each of us hears. We are not likely to have a vision of angels with glowing embers like Isaiah. We are not likely to be knocked off a horse and blinded like St. Paul. It is highly unlikely that we will be approached at work by God himself who will tell us to follow him. Rather our call is likely to come from those who know us, ordinary people who sometimes speak with the mouth of God, inviting us to take up the yoke of service in his name. When this happens, remember the words of Isaiah: “Here I am!”, “Send me.”
Pax
In other years on this date: Memorial of Saint Paul Miki, Priest and Martyr, and his companions, Martyrs
[1] Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “Call of the Sons of Zebedee” by Marco Basaiti,1510.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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