Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Traditional Latin Mass)

Dominica IV Post Pentecosten (Mass of the 1962 Missal)
25 June 2023

 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST.  AMEN.

I have had a number of priestly assignments over the years.  And at times, other new tasks have been added to my main work as a parish priest.  You would think that after 24 years of being a priest I might be less surprised about new assignments.  But it seems the reaction is always the same in me.  A calling to do something new, to take on some new mission can be very unsettling and causes much introspection.  When I first hear the news of being given a new calling, a new mission for God’s Church and His people a common reaction takes place in me.  Quite spontaneously, I usually first think of all the reasons why I’m not qualified and why it won’t work.

 I don’t think that tendency is all that unique.  When God calls, don’t we quite frequently and readily first think of the reasons why it is not a good idea, the reasons why it won’t work?  That’s a human tendency that the Scriptures show us.  You see that tendency time and time again in the calling of so many prophets.  The calling of the Prophet Isaiah is such an example when he sees a vision of God’s Temple.  Isaiah experiences a call to a mission, to his vocation.  What is Isaiah’s first reaction?  He thinks of the reasons the vocation and mission can’t work.  “Woe is me, I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.”  But God’s ministering angel comes with purifying fire, touches Isaiah’s mouth, and says “See, now… your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”  Being made clean and forgiven by God Isaiah can then answer, “Here I am, send me!”  In other words, Isaiah’s unworthiness is a given.  Of course, Isaiah is unworthy and sinful and incapable.  The young prophet Jeremiah is also hesitant when God calls him.  He first responds that he is too young to have a vocation from God and that his young age means he won’t know what to do and what to speak.  God tells him not to think that way and reminds Jeremiah that He, God, will give him what he is to speak.  Yes, the person called is incapable and unworthy.  That’s not a newsflash!  The Scriptural lesson is that the call is God’s call and He’s the One who equips the person He calls. 

In the Gospel selection, Jesus calls Simon Peter as he begins to bring together his apostles.  Imagine how embarrassing it would be to be an expert fisherman, as Peter was, with a fishing business, having just returned after a long night of catching nothing, to then have a carpenter get into your boat and give you fishing guidance: “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Simon Peter is actually qualified at fishing and he first notes his objection to put the nets in again, but with humility he is obedient.  Of course, we know that the Lord is preparing Peter for a new vocation, a new mission.  And in the face of a miraculous and large catch of fish, Simon Peter follows that human tendency to consider first how God’s call won’t work and how unworthy he is.  Falling at the knees of Jesus, Simon said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Jesus indicates that he will guarantee Simon Peter’s mission and vocation when he tells him, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

To fulfill the call to be holy we each are given a vocation which defines the larger arc of our life and which carries with it dignity, duties, and responsibilities.  But God may also give us a particular work at various moments of life.  We can call this a mission, some thing to accomplish that requires specific attention and effort but which may not define our whole life or be long term, like a vocation is. What godly vocation and mission is yours?  What godly vocation and mission seems unlikely in your opinion?  What is God asking of you that you might first object to, raising the reasons why you are not qualified?  “God, I can’t be…” fill in the blank.  “God, I can’t do…” fill in the blank.  Like Simon Peter, what is God’s call to you to vocation and to mission that you think just can’t be?  You see, a lesson today is that we think more of ourselves instead of God.  And that’s a problem.  That common tendency reveals the error.  Do we really think the source of power for vocation and mission comes from ourselves?  We first consider our skill, our strength, and our preparation.  We need to first think of God and what He can do.  What He can do even with you.  Even with me.  Of course, we certainly need to have a healthy awareness of our limitations and our unworthiness.  Such awareness permits us to focus where we need to call out to God in prayer for what only He can provide.  The Scripture lesson for us today is not a call to ignore our inabilities.  Rather, the lesson is to think first and more about God’s abilities.

 What might this say to us in various examples of callings?  A child or a teenager might first fear to be a disciple among peers in school and in groups of friends.  You fear being rejected or standing out for being an example of Christian faith.  Trust that God will give strength in the lunchroom and in hallways or in your neighborhood.  You need only cooperate.  Someone dating might face the struggle to live that relationship in purity and chastity as is moral teaching.  If someone is a follower of Jesus he or she has a mission to stand against the societal trend of inappropriate behavior or of living together before marriage, marriage which, for a catholic, needs to take place in the Catholic Church.  Some young men may have a vocation to be future priests.  They might tend to say, “That can’t be me.  God couldn’t choose me with my sins.”  Oh really?  Peter seemed to think that too.  Listen to the voice of the Master, “From now on you will be catching men.”  Spouses have a vocation to sacrificial love, to be faithful to one another, and to be open to the gift of children.  But it’s not easy.  There are fears and legitimate challenges and exhaustion.  Raising children takes so much.  Spouses may want to doubt the call and think themselves incapable.  But the dynamic of the Scriptures today speaks to you: “Do not be afraid.”

Think more of what God can do in you.  Maybe the invitation of God is to be more generous or sacrificial in financial giving or in lending your own talents to some area of parish life or to some Christian work done out in the world.  Is your first response fear that you won’t have enough?  How can I give more from what little I have and with my debts?  Put out into the deep and let God’s power and work bless your generosity.

What vocation and what mission might God be giving you?  What is your first response?  Is it, “I can’t”?  Or is it, “God can”?  God’s grace equipped Peter for vocation and mission.  God’s grace filled what was lacking in him and transformed him for the task at hand.  If God can call and equip so many figures in salvation history and so many saints over centuries, He does the same with the vocation and mission that He gives you.  He says to us: Your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.  He says: Don’t tell me you are too young.  I’ll give you what you need.  The Lord says to us: Put out into the deep.  Do not be afraid.  May our response be to follow the Lord in generosity, trusting him with all that we have and all that we are.

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST.  AMEN.