“They left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11)
Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Lucia’s Feb. 9 homily from World Marriage Day at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
One Sunday a visiting businessman went to church, and after the service congratulated the minister on his sermon. But he added a bit of constructive criticism: “If you were one of my salespeople, I’d have a talk with you. Your appearance and voice get my attention. Your delivery aroused my interest. What you said needed to be said. It made a lot of common sense. But then you stopped. You didn’t go on to ask me to do something about it. In business you have to get people to sign on the dotted line; otherwise, you will soon be out of business.”
I confess I have often wondered what Zebedee and the other fishermen were thinking when Peter, James and John walked away from their nets — their livelihood — to follow Jesus. I know the Chosen series has an episode dealing with this event which has caused me to stop and think what it might have been like, but still I am left with the question, “Why leave it all and so absolutely at that?”
Sisters and brothers, if you and I take a step back for a moment and consider the Scriptures we have heard this morning/afternoon, they suggest to us that God wants to be known to us and by us; and that encountering the Holy One can be a real, transformative experience.
For instance, in our first reading, Isaiah recounts his experience in visionary terms. He sees fiery beings (seraphim), hears a chant so powerful that it shakes the holy house and smells smoke everywhere. His senses transmit a reality otherwise inexplicable. His experience is authentic, and its effects are immediate: “Woe to me, I am doomed.” Despite the inherent uncleanness that justifies his fear of meeting the Almighty, Isaiah experiences the divine nearness as transformative and purifying.
These sentiments are echoed in Psalm 138, especially as we pray the words: “The Lord will complete what He has done for me; Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of Your hands” (v.8).
St. Paul, in our second reading, professes his belief in what an encounter with the risen Jesus can do for a person through the creedal statement which he shares with the Church of Corinth. Paul supports his claims by naming authoritative witnesses and that they can experience the Holy One by “holding fast” to the living Gospel that Jesus is to the human family.
Finally, in Luke’s Gospel, as in the case of St. Paul, we are reminded that God … that Jesus … meets you and I wherever we are at on the road of life … on the seas of life … in the daily grind! In this moment, Jesus does speak in a way that defies logic and transcends effort as they are invited to “put out into the deep.” As those fishermen relate to us, that at-first unwelcome instruction works — and so abundantly as to create other fears — for the sturdiness of the nets, the boats and even themselves. Yet, the presence of the Holy One so near to them is again a transformative moment beckoning them to cast their nets not into the water, but literally into Him.
So again, brothers and sisters, we come to the question, “Why?” Like St. Augustine, we may be inspired by what we hear this morning/afternoon and want it to happen … but … “not just yet.” However, since today/tomorrow is “National Marriage Sunday,” perhaps this occasion can shed further light on what this meeting up with God can mean for you and me.
What I mean by this statement is that the beauty of the Vocation of Marriage, along with that of the Consecrated Life or Ordained Ministry, is not found unless one is willing to let go of self in order to be wed to another. I don’t think many of us would argue that to embrace any of these vocations, one must respond to the call to “set out into the deep,” or we literally go no place! Quoting our businessman friend: “In business you have to get people to sign on the dotted line; otherwise, you will soon be out of business.”
Consequently, the Word of God this Lord’s Day is inviting us to consider a question attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Who are you, God, and who am I?” At the root of this question is the virtue of humility. As one commentary notes about this virtue and our Sunday readings: “The examples of Isaiah, Paul and Peter show how humility can crack open the heart to allow God’s grace to flow into our lives, transforming and healing us of our brokenness and sin. Humility allows us to live and stay rooted in the truth before God and others without pretense, arrogance or wallowing in pettiness.”
Sisters and brothers, humility is not asking you and I to think little of ourselves, but rather as thinking of oneself very little. Such a perspective encourages the selfless generosity that can help one to truly follow in Jesus’ footsteps. For instance, when spouses humbly offer love to each other, the daily bumps and bruises that happen in family life heal more quickly. With each gesture of humility, whether in word or action, the pursuit of lasting love becomes more than just a fanciful idea; it finds a home where it is lived and felt. When spouses are humble before each other, love grows.
Ultimately, the Eucharist is not only where the Holy One remains near but is ready to transform the lives of all who believe. At each celebration of Christ’s sacrificial love, we begin by acknowledging our sins and brokenness in the Penitential Act and then are fed at the table of the Word of God and in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Strengthened and nourished, we are then blessed and sent forth as renewed disciples, as His humble servants.
Brothers and sisters, as the Church participates in National Marriage Week and the Jubilee of Hope, may we all strive to live in the truth of who we are before God and each other as His humble people, imitating Jesus’ selfless love, thinking of others before ourselves, and showing the world how to discover lasting love by signing on the dotted line. Let me conclude on this Superbowl Sunday with a prayer composed by football coach Grant Teaff: “God, I know that you have a plan, a purpose and a will for my life and the lives of these young people. I do not know what it is, but I’ll try to impress upon those I coach this year and forever that there is more to life than just playing football, that You do have a purpose for our lives.” Amen.
