You Are the One God is Looking For!

Rev. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA

Sunday, February 07, 2016

On a few occasions, I have said that one of the “lies” ever told on my behalf was told on the day I was ordained to the priesthood. In every Roman Catholic ordination, the candidates for ordination to the priesthood are called one after another and presented to the ordaining prelate, the Bishop. When each candidate is called by name, he answers “present” and then goes to the Bishop, and makes a sign of reverence, like a gentle bow. At the end of this exercise, the priest who made the presentation says to the Bishop: “Most Reverend Father, the holy mother Church asks you to ordain these men, our brothers, to the order of presbyterate.” After that, the Bishop asks, “Have you found them worthy?” The priest responds, “After inquiry among the people of God and upon recommendation of those concerned with their training, I testify that they have been found worthy.” Immediately, my Superior said those words, I started shedding tears, because it just dawned on me in a very powerful way, that I was not worthy. I wondered what God saw in me that he gave me the privilege to share in the priesthood of Christ. I wondered why my shortcomings and weaknesses did not lead to my expulsion. Those who saw tears in my eyes thought it was tears of joy. But it was essentially tears of gratitude to God who knew how unworthy I was, yet, in his goodness and mercy, still called and invited me to serve him and his people. 

The first reading taken from Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8 and the Gospel, taken from Luke 5: 1-11, are stories of two individuals who were called and who were painfully aware of their sinfulness and unworthiness. Isaiah and Simon Peter were overwhelmed and almost speechless to be in the presence of the divine power who was calling them. When Isaiah encountered the Lord, he exclaimed, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). When Simon Peter realized he was standing next to a great prophet, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said to him, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). While Isaiah’s encounter with God looks like an event that happened in a trance, Peter’s encounter with God took place on a seashore. 

Simon Peter and his colleagues had worked hard all night fishing but caught nothing. By morning, they were getting ready to go home in disappointment. After paddling their boats to the bank of the Lake Gennesaret, they started washing their nets, boats and themselves in preparation to go home. Then, a stranger, Jesus, showed up! Uninvited, he got into Peter’s boat. As if that was not enough, he asked Peter to push the boat a little bit from the shore. Surprisingly, Peter obeyed his order. Jesus sat down and started teaching the crowds who had come to listen to him. At the end of his evangelical outreach, he rewarded Peter for his patience and kindness: “Put out your net into the deep water and lower it for a catch” (Luke 5:4), he said to him. In his response Peter said to him, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets” (Luke 5:5). That’s a huge statement of faith and trust in the words of Jesus. It’s a sharp transition and movement from sight to faith. It’s an immediate departure from empirical fact and evidence to profound faith. It’s a quick switch from what is seen to what is yet to be seen. By acting on the words of Jesus, Simon Peter and his colleagues caught a great number of fish that they had to summon others to come help them out. When Peter saw the miracle that had just happened, he realized that Jesus was a Prophet and a Man of God. Like many of us, he concluded he should not, in any way, be close to him. So, falling to his knees, he respectfully pleaded with him to leave. But instead of departing from Simon Peter, Jesus offered him an invitation to join him in fishing-out follow sinners: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). With those words, Jesus changed everything for Peter. He changed his profession, his life and destiny.

The expression “I am unworthy” or “I am a sinner,” has been used by some of us as our reason for not getting involved in any of the ministries of the church. Some once practicing and vibrant Catholics have become cold or stayed away from the Church for the same reason. But after listening to today’s Gospel, that can no longer be an adequate and cogent reason to give. If you consider yourself unworthy to join any ministry in the church, then you are the one that Jesus is really looking for. If your marriage has collapsed or is faltering, and you are blaming yourself for it, my message to you today is this: You are the one that Jesus is looking for. You procured abortion in the past, and the guilt is hurting and hunting you. You are the one he is looking for. Your son or daughter did not turn out alright, and you are blaming yourself for it. You are the one Jesus is looking for. Are you trapped in any habitual sin? You are the one he is looking for. If you are struggling spiritually and morally, then you are the one he is looking for. If there is anyone in your family that considers himself or herself not worthy to come to God, not worthy to come to church, please tell them that they are the one that the Lord is looking for. If you are struggling in your faith, then you are the one he is looking for. Do you consider yourself unworthy in any way, form or shape, you are the one he is looking for. The Lord is looking for sinners, not for the purpose of validating their sin, but for the purpose of offering them grace, mercy, healing, strength, and encouragement. He is looking for the lost in order to find them and lead them to safety. He is looking for the weak so that through them he can manifest his power. He is looking for the wounded in order to heal them. Jesus did not come for the healthy. He came for the sick. He did not come for the righteous. He came for sinners. He did not come for those who have got their lives together. He came for those with disordered and dysfunctional lives. Isaiah considered himself a sinner, he was still chosen. His unclean lips were touched, his wickedness was removed and his sin purged. Simon Peter considered himself a sinner, and even asked Jesus to depart from him. Jesus still invited him to follow him. In the end, he became a great apostle. He accomplished great things for the Lord. Do not let your unworthiness, your sin and your weakness to be the reason to stay away from God and the Church. In the Gospel of Luke 19:10, Jesus says that “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” Don’t hide or run away from him! He came for you! He came for me! He came for us all!