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Vocation Comes From an Encounter

Lectio Divina: V Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

For these holy people the day of their encounter with God was not an ordinary day. To them that day was not like anything else, it was the event that changed their lives and brought them to put themselves at the service of God.

It is important to notice that in all these three cases, vocation was for a mission of salvation and that for God the sins and the fragility of the three called had not been an obstacle to His call. He forgave them, purified them, and gave them the strength for the task.

All of them received the peace of forgiveness and became missionaries among men. They became spokespersons of God and of His Kingdom, that is a kingdom of freedom, justice, truth, peace and above all of love.

For Isaiah who welcomed the divine cry "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" God changed the heart so that he could answer "Here I am, send me!" The great prophet could answer in this way because the Seraphim had purified his lips with burning coal. This angelic deed is the consequence of the fact that Isaiah had encountered God and had recognized his condition as a sinner.

Christ gave to Paul His grace and told him "I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen [of me] and what you will be shown." (Acts, 26 16b) For the Apostle of the Gentiles the encounter with the Lord was the condition to change the meaning of his life and to live it as a mission. From rabid persecutor Paul became tireless announcer of Christ.

To Peter, Jesus gave strength strong as a stone so that the first among the apostles could follow Him without giving in. As a co-star of the miraculous catch of fish, Peter had said to Jesus "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. I'm not worthy to have a Saint in my boat" ( Lk 5,8). The Redeemer answered "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."(Lk 5:10) That humble fisherman of Galilee became the one who fished men, lifting them from the water poisoned by sin and plunging them in the water purified by God's love.

Life as a vocation

The astonishment of the miracle, the words and above all the encounter with Christ invaded not only Peter, but also all the ones who were with him fishing and in particular his brother Andrew and his partners James and John.

Jesus wasn't alone any more. Four men, two pairs of brothers who became even more brothers because of the common faith, abandoned everything, their job and their families to become companions of Christ. Four humble fishermen, four workmen who, if not illiterate, definitely were not doctors, had been called by Jesus to share His mission as the savior of the human family.

Why did these fishermen leave everything to follow this Man who was promising neither money nor glory and was speaking "only" about love, perfection, poverty and joy ("Blessed be the poor because they will be the Kingdom of Heaven")?

They left everything because God had become the affective center of their life and only He had words of eternal life. He is the Life of life. The encounter with Christ impacted their insignificance. The discovery of Christ as the center of everything erased every fear. They proved to them that the one who follows Christ doesn't walk in darkness and they put themselves at the service of the Kingdom of God. They followed Christ and lived in community with Him, who in a parable described himself as the Good Shepherd. In this parable charity manifests itself in all its full capacity of initiative, creativity, and strength. ( LK 15:4-6)

The Apostles accepted life as a vocation and Christ's mission became their vocation.

Zacchaeus' vocation

The profound availability to put their life at the service of Christ's love was essential to understand their personal vocation. That is not the case of Zacchaeus. (Today's gospel in the Ambrosian Rite) ( Lk 19:1-10)

Zacchaeus was only curious to see Him, and didn't have any intention whatsoever to be close to Christ because, being a publican, he was considered a sinner. He didn't know that Christ had come to call the sinners, to give them a vocation that is the proposal to be with him and share his life and his mission. In the day when Christ was going by Jericho, this man, very attached to money, had climbed a tree to see the Messiah.

For him that day was not an ordinary day. It was the day of the encounter between him and Christ who, looking at him with love (Christ loves the sinners. He has come for them and for us) said to him "Today I must stay at your house". Perhaps Christ had thought of him when He told the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican who didn't dare to lift his eyes, was ashamed to be in front of the Lord, to be seen, was beating his chest and was able only to say "God, have pity on me because I'm a sinner".

Perhaps in Zacchaeus the question of forgiveness was implicit in the request to see Jesus. The rest was done by God whose look saves. Christ's look goes beyond appearances and sees the heart that hopes for the resurrection. He doesn't ask to Zacchaeus "What did you do?" He doesn't reproach his sins. He calls him to be his guest. Zacchaeus understands that it is a call to be in communion with Christ.

It is natural that this man put himself at the disposal of the Man God and of His messianic mission. This publican "welcomes Jesus with joy" because Christ's invitation had given new and true meaning to his life. His neighbor was not any more someone to take advance of, but someone with whom to have a relationship of justice, forgiveness and true fraternity.

Vocation to love in virginity.

This native and fundamental vocation to love typical of any man and of any woman can be fully realized in matrimony and in virginity. These are "two ways to express and to live the unique mystery of the covenant between God and his people" (Familiaris Consortio, # 11)

Matrimony and virginity are not in contrast. They are two different and complementary gifts that converge manifesting the same spousal mystery of the fecund and salvific union between Christ and the Church.

However it is important to remember that in the Church Virginity is the highest vocation. It is the acme of love, the full answer to Christ's predilection, within which one can look at people in the same way Christ looked. Of this love of predilection the Virgins are called to be martyrs (a Greek word that means witnesses), spouses and mothers in spirit, able to give their life with passion so that Christ can be known and the encounter with Him may change one's life.

The Bishop during the Rite of the Consecration of the Virgins urges "Your motherhood will be a motherhood of the spirit, as you do the will of your Father and work with others in a spirit of charity, so that a great family of children may be born, or reborn, to the life of grace" (CV 29). "Our Lord Jesus Christ (….) may by the strength of his word make your life fecund)" (CV 56). "The Holy Church considers you an elected part of Christ's flock: in you his supernatural fecundity blooms and gives fruit" (CV 29). In this way the consecrated Virgins collaborate in the divine fishing, generating and recuperating many children to the life of grace and love given by Christ.

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Roman Rite

Is 6:1-2,3-8; Ps 137; 1Cor 15.1-11; Lk 5:1-11

Arlington Catholic Herald

GOSPEL COMMENTARY LK 5:1-11

Fear turns into love

Fr. Jerome Magat

“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” St. Peter’s reaction to the miraculous draught of fish represents one of the most intense reactions to the person of Jesus Christ. Why did Peter react in such an intense way? After all, it was not the first miracle that he had witnessed. Recall that in the previous chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, Peter had already witnessed the miraculous cure of his mother-in-law in Capernaum. He had seen Jesus cure the physically infirm and perform exorcisms. So, Peter had already witnessed Jesus’ power.

So, what made this miracle so different and so much more powerful in its impression on Peter? Scholars and commentators suggest that this miracle was more compelling to Peter because Peter was an expert in fishing. He knew that Jesus was not knowledgeable about fishing — Jesus was a carpenter. By virtue of this miracle, Jesus had broken into Peter’s world in a most dramatic way. Jesus was demonstrating that he had power over that which Peter considered himself an expert and professional. Jesus had disrupted Peter’s sense of self precisely in the place that Peter conducted his business and felt in control of his life.

Thus, Peter had come face to face with the reality that Jesus was no ordinary man — He could only be God. In humility, Peter declared himself unworthy to be in the presence of divinity. The holiness and perfection of Christ unsettled Peter, who was now totally aware of his own frailties and sins. This reaction was not without precedent. The Old Testament contains stories about Moses, Job and Isaiah all reacting to an awareness of God’s presence with fear and trembling and awe. Peter was overwhelmed at what he had just witnessed at Jesus’ command, much like the aforementioned biblical heroes.

Moreover, Peter had encountered Our Lord in such a way that his faith and obedience to Jesus’ command to put out into the deep was matched with Our Lord’s superabundant generosity, represented in the miraculous catch of fish. It demonstrated that God is never outdone in generosity with those who obey his commands. He will always give more than is rendered by a believer in return for faithful discipleship.

On a deeper level, what is more astonishing than Peter’s reaction of fear and humility in the presence of Jesus is Jesus’ response to Peter’s sense of unworthiness. Our Lord exhorted Peter to put aside his fear and prepare for his ultimate life’s work — to save souls and lead the church. In other words, Jesus revealed to Peter that while the miraculous catch of fish may have overwhelmed him in the present moment, Peter needed to assume a larger life role as the future pope.

And so, when Peter reached shore with James and John, he and they abandoned their prior lives and followed Jesus immediately and unreservedly in love. Perhaps with this in mind, John would later write that, “perfect love casts out fear (1 Jn. 4:18).” Some 30 years later, as Peter hung crucified upside down on the Vatican Hill in Rome, this dramatic scene depicted in this Sunday’s Gospel reading must have come to mind. Peter’s encounter with the Son of God forever altered the trajectory of his life. In this moment of martyrdom, Peter was longer overwhelmed by fear. Rather, he was overcome with love for the One for whom he was dying.

Fr. Magat is parochial vicar of St. William of York Parish in Stafford.