Fifth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2016
Fr. José Maria Cortex, F.S.C.B.
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Sunday Reading Meditations
In the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s readings remind me of the following anecdote from the life of Saint Jerome: “As he was on this day meditating about the first Christmas, Saint Jerome received a glorious apparition of the Divine Infant. ‘Jerome,’ Jesus asked him, ‘what are you going to give Me for My Birthday?’ ‘Divine Infant,’ Jerome replied, ‘I give You my heart.’ ‘That is very good,’ said the Holy Child, ‘but give Me something else.’ Jerome answered, ‘I give You my prayers and all my heart's affections.’ ‘That also is good, but give Me something else.’ ‘I give You all that I have and all that I possess.’ ‘Very good.’ The smile radiating from His Holy Face showed that He was pleased. ‘But,’ the Boy continued, ‘I desire that you give Me still something more.’ ‘But, Divine Infant,’ Jerome cried, ‘I have nothing, what do You desire me to give You?’ ‘Jerome,’ said Jesus eagerly, ‘give Me your sins! ‘The Saint was shocked. ‘But,’ he asked, ‘what would You do with them?’ ‘Give Me your sins,’ Jesus explained, ‘in order that I may pardon them all’”
Today’s readings are about three men with something in common: all of them were sinners. Like us! Isaiah was a man with unclean lips, Paul persecuted Christians and Peter was a traitor, who denied Jesus three times. However, God entrusted them with great missions.
When Isaiah was in the Temple, he witnessed the glory of the Lord. The presence of the divine revealed his sinful state: “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips” (Is 6:5). He was afraid and felt unworthy to be in God’s presence. An angel of God holding an ember came and touched his mouth, saying: “Your wickedness is removed, your sin purged” (Is 6:7). Then, when the Lord asked whom should He send in his name, Isaiah answered promptly: “Here I am, send me!” (Is 6:8). Purification of heart prepares us for the mission entrusted to us by God.
“He appeared to me,” says Saint Paul (1 Cor 15:8). Christ resurrected appeared to him and totally changed his life. Paul’s encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus purified his heart. The experience of the mercy of God allowed Paul to say: “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10).
When Peter witnesses Jesus perform a miracle, he falls at his knees and says: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). And what is Jesus’ answer? “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Lk 5:10).
Isaiah, Paul and Peter let God purify their lives and accomplished great missions. They are examples for us all.
A Christian life cannot exist without purification. We cannot accomplish the mission that God entrusts to each one of us without the constant purification of our lives. As Jesus asked Saint Jerome, he asks us: “Give me your sins.” Do not be afraid. Lent is starting this week. We shall have many opportunities.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.