Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you into fishers of men. MT 4:19
ISAIAH 6:1-2,3-8
My Soul's Beloved,
How glorious it is that while we are still on earth we are privileged to also have a glimpse of heaven, Your throne, the place where You dwell at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist. We are united with the heavenly choir of angels, who are joined by all the saints as together we sing,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.
His glory fills the whole earth.’
‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’
PSALM 137(138):1-5,7-8
Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.
Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.
LUKE 5:1-11
My Soul's Beloved,
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.
His glory fills the whole earth.’
You, O Lamb of God, deign to be present on our altars as we offer to God the one, holy, perfectly, and only acceptable Sacrifice to God - the bloody Sacrifice of Calvary. For those of us who go to Holy Mass faithfully every day, it is a grace and a gift for it is a desire that the Holy Spirit has placed in our hearts.
Our eyes do not see what takes place on our Altar but our souls do and we fall on our faces and exclaim along with the prophet as God descends to receive our praise, thanksgiving, adoration, and worship. We confess as he confessed that we are sinners and unworthy:
‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’
And once we have confessed our sins, faults, and failings, as one body in You, You wash us clean with Your Blood. All our venial sins are taken away and we are filled with grace, peace, and all the gifts of the Spirit that we need on our pilgrim journey.
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said:
‘See now, this has touched your lips,
your sin is taken away,
your iniquity is purged.’
‘See now, this has touched your lips,
your sin is taken away,
your iniquity is purged.’
Finally, Beloved, You send us out at the end of Holy Mass with Your command ringing in our ears to go out into the world carrying the Good News and preaching it by the witness of our lives:
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’
‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’
And our response is:
‘Here I am, send me.’
PSALM 137(138):1-5,7-8
Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
All earth’s kings shall thank you
when they hear the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the Lord’s ways:
‘How great is the glory of the Lord!’
They shall sing of the Lord’s ways:
‘How great is the glory of the Lord!’
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
The beauty, the miracle of grace, the consistency of the message of salvation, the preaching of the Gospel, the Good News, has been done so with clarity, with power, by Peter, the Apostles, and the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, and handed down without change, without adding anything, changing anything, or removing anything. What You preached and taught Your disciples, has been handed down faithfully and this glorious grace is possible because the Holy Spirit has kept every word, every work, every sign, every teaching fresh and alive in the memory of the Church. Only in the one, holy, catholic, church that You founded on Peter can make this claim in truth.
St. Paul makes this point crystal clear - he only teaches and preaches what he himself was taught - believing anything else, he says unequivocally, will lead to nothing.
Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.
This is the Good News that he and the Church have preached for over 2000 years and which has the power to save the whole world:
Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.
Beloved, the conversion of St. Paul is a comforting reminder that no one is beyond forgiveness and mercy. Grace and grace alone enable us to hear God's word with fresh understanding and have the power to give life even when all seems lost and hopeless. We have received this grace, Lord, and now we need to use it to make a difference in our lives and the lives of everyone we come in contact with every day we are alive. We trust You and the Holy Spirit and the love of our Father in heaven to assist us to be all that God created us to be - light that takes away the darkness of sin and salt that gives life its savor.
I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.
LUKE 5:1-11
My Soul's Beloved,
We were conceived in the heart and mind of God eternally. We were conceived physically in time. You have planned our lives and we as Your creatures must discern God's will and do it. How do we know Your will, Lord? We know it from the Commandments, the teaching of the Church, Sacred Scripture, and the law of God written on every heart. It is said that we each have a God hole in our heart that only You can fill but being sinners we reject You and Your love preferring to live unholy, selfish lives we try unsuccessfully to fill it with every sinful pleasure that will ultimately lead to spiritual death. You pursue us. You reveal Yourself to us. You invite us, cajole us, woo us, and when nothing gets our attention tragedy strikes and wounds us, and then, more often than not, we finally realize that we need You.
Lord Jesus, it is not enough to be one among the crowd that presses against You listening to You. Once we have heard You we need to get into the boat where You are, the boat of Peter, which is the Catholic Church. Here alone is found redemption and fullness of truth. It is here that You abide and come to us as food and drink. It is here, through the Sacraments You instituted that we have access to grace upon grace without which we would wither and die.
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
Once we are in Peter's boat, we must do what You ask - just as he did. It made no sense, an experienced fisherman who had toiled all night and caught nothing, and in his experience, he was certain there were no fish to be caught that day. He said so, but in humility he obeyed. You instructed him exactly where he should cast the net, he did so, and hauled in the catch of his life.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
Beloved, once we have experienced the power of Your love and the miracles You constantly work in our lives we, like Peter, must fall prostrate before You, acknowledge that we are sinners, give our lives over to You, and live the Gospel in every season. When we do our lives will be exceedingly fruitful as we labor to establish Your Kingdom in our hearts and in the world.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
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