5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2016
4 PM, 12 Noon & 5:30 PM, Liturgies
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
Only rarely does it happen that this cycle of readings occurs just before
Lent. But it has happened before. And some years ago I thought it a good
opportunity to offer a prelude of sorts, some thoughts to mull, as Lent invites
us again this Wednesday into self-examination. So here it is again.
Each of the readings is about a “call” from God. And each of the
readings is about an intensely personal realization of unworthiness before
God’s call. The persons in each story are among the most well-known and
significant people in all religious imagination: Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. In the
end, each of them does indeed follow their invitation. But it is an interesting
and instructive path they each follow. And with each of them it starts with
honest self-examination. Maybe there is something for us to learn from them
for Lent.
For Isaiah, when he realizes he is standing before the throne of the God
of his ancestors, with the Seraphim chanting “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord,
God of Hosts,” he is terrified. He says out loud: “Woe is me. I am doomed.
For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips....”
Before the face of the real God, Isaiah is blessed with the gift of uncanny self-
knowledge.
Much the same happens to Peter in today’s gospel. He has already just
seen his mother-in-law raised from her sick bed. But now the bizarre catch of
fish is too much to handle. Who is this man, Peter wonders? And Peter, like
Isaiah before him, falls to his knees and exclaims: “Depart from me, Lord, for
I am a sinful man.” And then he and a few others who are invited follow
Jesus and only rarely ever get to fish for fish again.
St. Paul has much the same experience; he describes it well to cement
his argument with the townspeople of Corinth. He describes Jesus’
appearance to him by saying: “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.”
Paul then adds the line that so distracted me when I read it again last
week in our translation. He says: “But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.”
Anyone wondering why I got so distracted? A hint: I’ve been
humming a song all week. “I am what I am, I am my own special creation.
So come take a look. Give me the hook or the ovation....” The song is the
show-stopping closing of the first act in Jerry Herman’s La Cage aux Folles.
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Can you believe St. Paul and Jerry Herman are singing the same song?
They are. And for the same good reason. In the musical, the song is
sung by a character named Albin; his stage name is Za-Za. He is a lovable
female impersonator in a nightclub in St. Tropez; his partner Georges runs
the club. Albin is a most unlikely hero, or heroine. But remember we’re also
talking today about Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. It doesn’t get more unlikely than
that trio.
Let me read for you the ending of Za-Za’s song. He speaks of opening
up a closet; he had particular closet he was thinking of. Don’t get distracted
by that closet. Just think of your own closets–whatever they still are. Where
do you still hide–sometimes even from yourself? The song ends: “There’s
one life, and there’s no return and no deposit; one life, so it’s time to open up
your closet. Life’s not worth a damn ‘til you can say, hey world, I am what I
am.”
I’m wiling to bet that if our three heroes for today’s readings knew the
song, they might have hummed it all week too! It’s is a very consonant
message–especially as we enter another Lent.
Just for good measure, we could throw in our friend St. Ignatius of
Loyola. He spends a great deal of time and energy fashioning the first week
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of his Spiritual Exercises in order to help a retreatant come to the profound
realization of being a “Loved Sinner.” That’s what we all are: Loved
sinners. But we are loved sinners who are invited, just as Isaiah, Paul and
Peter were, to not be afraid of who we are. For better or worse, this is what
God will work with!
Remember our heroes today. Isaiah remained a wounded man of
unclean lips his whole life; he also became one of Israel’s greatest prophets.
Peter stands up and falls repeatedly through all the gospels. He remains, at
best, a slippery “Rock” his whole life. And Paul got his start helping to
murder people. No one ever lives that down completely! And yet every one of
them could join the chorus with Za-Za and sing: “I am what I am.” By the
grace of God!
Lent is about far more than fasting and fish! It’s a time to stop, look,
and listen to yourself. And maybe even hum a song or two to celebrate God’s
unfathomable love for each of us. As Pope Francis reminded us all in his lest
book, God’s Name is Mercy. Our spiritual life’s not worth much of a damn
either until we can say, hey world, I am what I am, by the grace of God. Send
me! Peace!
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