Gospel Reflection

February 10, 2013

Sunday – Year of Faith

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, Sto. Nino Parish, Tondo, Manila

12:15PM Mass, Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace (EDSA Shrine)

                         

Reading 1 Is 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!”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 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.

Reading 2 1 Cor 15:1-11 or 15:3-8, 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.

Gospel Lk 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.

HOMILY

Our God is a powerful God. Nothing is impossible to Him. And we also know that God wills all men to be saved. Therefore, God can do the work of salvation by Himself. But according to His will, kahit sa Kanyang pamamaraan, He wants that we, poor human beings, will participate in the work of salvation. Hindi Niya po ginawa ang lahat. Gusto Niyang ibahagi sa ating mga tao ang kaligtasan. Kaya sa simula't simula pa, tumatawag po Siya ng mga tao upang maging instrumento ng kaligtasan. 

'Yon po 'yong paksa ng ating mga pagbasa ngayon. Sa Unang Pagbasa, narinig po natin ang pagtawag kay Isaias. Noon, tinawag si Isaias sa pamamagitan ng isang pangitain sa templo. Marahil 'yon po ang funeral ng haring si Uzziah. Nandoon po si Isaias at doon ay nakita niya sa templo ang kadakilaan, ang kaluwalhatian ng Diyos. Kaya't nasabi niya sa kanyang sarili, "Panginoon, hindi ako karapat-dapat. Ako'y isang taong may maduming lahi." 

Ganoon din po, tinawag ng Panginoon si Pablo. Sinabi ni Pablo na on the day of the Resurrection, nagpakita si Hesus kay Simon. Nagpakita si Hesus sa limang daan. Nagpakita si Hesus sa labindalawa, kay San Tiago, at sa bandang huli, nagpakita Siya kay Pablo noong si Pablo ay umuusig pa sa simbahan. Papunta siya sa Damascus upang maghanap ng mga Kristiyano na kanyang ipabibilanggo. Doon siya patungo nang magpakita ang Panginoon sa kanya.

Ganoon din po sa ating Ebanghelyo - ang pagtawag naman kay Pedro. At dito naman nabigla si Pedro sa nangyari. Hindi niya inaasahan na siya, na isang propesiyonal na mangingisda na lumaki sa lawa, ay hindi sila nakahuli ng isda nang buong gabi, ngunit sa araw na iyon, ang Panginoon ay nagbigay ng napakaraming huli, na halos malubog ang kanilang mga bangka.

Tingnan po natin ang tatlong pagtawag sa iba't ibang paraan. Ang isa sa isang funeral, ang isa ay sa kanyang pag-uusig habang naglalakbay, at ang isa sa kanyang pagtatrabaho bilang mangingisda. But their reactions were the same. Nang makita nila ang pagkilos ng Diyos sa pagtawag sa kanila, they saw that they were not worthy. Kaya nga sinabi ni Isaias, "Sa lahat ng kabanalan ng Diyos, ako'y madumi." Kaya sinabi ni Pablo na hindi siya karapat-dapat sapagkat siya ay nag-uusig sa simbahan. Kaya sinabi ni Pedro, "Lord, go away from me, I am a sinful man."

Pero kahit gano'n, tinawag sila, at maganda rin ang kanilang sagot. All of them wholeheartedly, generously laid themselves. For the prophet Isaiah, when the angel of the Lord said, "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah said, "Lord, here I am, send me." St. Paul was saying, "Though I am the least of the Apostles, I strive all the more. I work harder than the rest, because of the grace of God that was given to me." And we know the labors of Paul, traveling and passing through different countries - from Israel, to Syria, to Asia Minor, to Greece, even to Rome, proclaiming the Good News. In the end, he was beheaded for the Good News. That was also the response of Peter. When they got to the shore, he left everything and followed the Lord, when the Lord invited him that from that day, he will be a fisher of man.

Mga kapatid, hindi lamang po si Isaias, si Pedro at si Pablo ang tinawag ng Panginoon. Lahat ng mga binyagan ay tinatawag ng Diyos. Ang binyag po, para sa atin, ay hindi lamang paglinis ng kasalanan. Ang binyag ay pagtawag ng Diyos, hindi lamang upang makatanggap ng kaligtasan, ngunit upang tayo ay magbahagi ng kaligtasan sa iba. At 'yan po siguro ang madalas nating makalimutan. We are so concerned about our salvation, that we don't see the call for us to also share this salvation to others. We cannot receive the Good News without sharing it, as the Good News is for all of us. Kaya't bilang binyagan, tayo ay tinatawag din na magbahagi.

And we should not say, "Hindi ako handa. Hindi ko alam 'yan. Ordinaryong mamamayan lang ako, ordinaryong Kristiyano lang ako. Hindi naman ako nag-aral." 'Yan din ang dinahilan ng mga tinawag ng Diyos. "Ako'y makasalanan, ako'y mangingisda lang...ako'y bata pa..." But then, hopefully we can respond with generosity, as these three people did. Sana'y maibigay natin ang ating sarili. Because God who called us, will enable us to answer the call, if He finds that there is this generosity, there is this capacity to give ourselves to Him. Siya na po ang bahala sa atin. 

Hindi ba sinabi ni Hesus, "Darating ang panahon na kayo'y uusigin. Dadalhin kayo sa harap ng mga hari, sa harap ng mga hukom. Ngunit huwag kayong mag-alala kung ano'ng isasagot n'yo. Ibibigay sa inyo ang Espiritu, at makakasagot kayo nang hindi mismo nila matutugunan ang inyong sagot, dahil sa iyan ay galing sa Banal na Espiritu." At 'yan po ay makikita natin sa kasaysayan ng Simbahan. Simple people, but with great generosity, were able to do great things. Not because they were capable, but because they were generous. 

Mga kapatid, tayo po ay tinatawagan din. Ano kaya ang ating tugon? Sa mga tawag ay napakarami po. Alam po natin, kahit saan po tayo magsimba, napakaraming mga announcements. Nangangailangan ng choir member. Nangangailangan ng CWL. Nagtatawag ang Legion of Mary. Kailangan natin ng tagabasa. Kailangan natin ng volunteer na tutulong sa mga feeding programs. Napakaraming panawagan. Iilan lamang po ang tumutugon. 

Ngayon po ay ipinagdiriwang natin sa misang ito, at tayo po ay nakiki-isa, sa grupo ng San Igidio community, na kung sakaling hindi ninyo alam, ay nagmi-meeting dito sa EDSA Shrine tuwing Thursday nang gabi. Ito po ay bagong community, kaya't ipinagdiriwang lamang nila ang kanilang 45th anniversary. Nagsimula po sila noong 1968 sa Roma, ngunit ngayon ay kalat na sa maraming mga cities. At ano ang ginagawa nila? Marami po, ngunit tatlong bagay lamang ang pinaka-poste ng kanilang gawain. Sila'y nagtitipon, nagsasama upang magdasal. Sila'y nagsasama upang makinig sa Salita ng Diyos. Sila'y nagsasama upang tumulong sa mga mahihirap. So, this community, that is celebrating now, is then another gift of the Holy Spirit in the Church. It is another venue of service, na pwede nating gawin.

Ngayon pong Miyerkules ay simula na ng bagong panahon ng Simbahan, ang Kuwaresma. Kaya pupunta na naman tayo sa simbahan para tumanggap ng abo. Lent is a time of encouragement to generosity. That we may be generous with our prayers and sacrifices, not only for ourselves, but also for the world. That we may be generous in our talents and services. That we may be generous in praying. That is why we have many prayers during Lent. Nandiyan ang pagbabasa ng Pasyon, Way of the Cross, at iba't iba pa pong prayers natin. Lent is another moment, another invitation of the Lord. Every season in the Church is an invitation for greater service for the work of salvation. 

Kaya mga kapatid, sa paksa natin ngayon, ay hindi sapat na atin lamang alamin ang nangyari kay Isaias, kay Pablo at kay Pedro. 'Yan ay mga examples lang, kung paano tinatawag ng Diyos ang mga tao para sa gawain ng kaligtasan. At kasama po tayo roon. At dito po sinasabi sa atin na ang Diyos ay nagtatawag sa iba't ibang klaseng mga tao, sa lahat ng tao sa kanilang kalagayan sa buhay. At sana naman, tulad ni Isaias, ni Pablo at ni Pedro, mayroon din tayong generosity na tumulong at maglingkod. 

Tuwing tayo po ay nagsisimba, ipinagdiriwang po natin ang pagtugon ni Hesus sa Kanyang misyon - ang pagtugon Niya nang buong buo - so much so that He gave His body and blood, that we may have salvation. May this memorial of the generous love of Jesus also incite us to follow His generosity in our own call from the Lord. That is why we need to be more sensitive to the Lord calling us, because He does calls us. And when we hear His call, let us follow what Isaiah said. 'Here am I, Lord. Send me."