The key problem has always been and is the unfaithfulness and failure of Catholics to daily live out their faith with fidelity to the Church,

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary time. Sunday, Feb. 7th, 2010

In today’s readings, we hear the calling and the reaction of three different people, as they are called by our Lord to do His work. In the first reading, Isaiah, realizing his unworthiness in the presence of God says, "Woe to me, I am doomed." In the second reading, Paul says, I am the least of the Apostles. And in our Gospel, Peter says, depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man. Each of these three have been called for a special task. But each humbly recognizes their own incompetence and unworthiness to follow such a noble calling. But by trusting in our Lord’s call, each is lead to a life of holiness, and they become great saints.
One of the major themes of the Second Vatican Council was the universal call to holiness. The council Fathers wanted to remind the faithful that every single Christian is called to be holy, not only those consecrated to the religious life, or the saints who we can too easily picture as being somehow outside of the struggles of everyday life. The Holy Spirit was speaking to the Church and reminding us that all of us are called to be friends of Jesus and thus children of the heavenly Father. Those who answer this call of holiness are then called to participate in the preaching of the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Many times it is easy to think that the only ones who are called to a life of holiness are priests and religious, but the call goes out to every single ordinary person in their ordinary daily lives. Few there are who truly answer this call to its fullness. There are too few that live their lives in faithful submission and joyful obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is sanctity and it begins not with great feats but by being faithful in our ordinary daily routine, doing all with the grace of God and offering it all, especially our daily struggles and sufferings for love of Christ and the salvation of souls.
Sure there are many problems in the world and in the church, problems, which at times can seem insurmountable or without hope. But even with all the problems in the world today and the scandals in the Church, the world is starving for the message of salvation. The world today in which despair and hopelessness are so prevalent is actually extremely ripe for "the Good news."
The key problem is not and has never been the problems in the world and in the Church. The key problem has always been and is the unfaithfulness and failure of Catholics (clergy & laity alike) to daily live out their faith with fidelity to the Church, to her teachings and to her truths. They are too many who are either too afraid or are just plain indifferent. I believe that the unfaithfulness and infidelity of Catholic Christians is a greater threat to the world and the Church than any scandal or terrorist with any nuclear or dirty bomb.
Jesus calls every-one of us to be a witness to the joy and hope that our faith gives us. Where sin abounds Grace abounds more. So, we can be sure that there has never been a better time than right now, even amongst the scandals and failures of priests and bishops, for everyone of us to give a true, faithful, Christian witness in our jobs, in our marriages, in our homes, in our schools and with our friends. The fact that we take steps to learn our faith and to stand up for it with courage in the midst of so many troubles is a greater witness (of sanctity) than when we practice our faith when it is easy and times are good.
It is exactly at this time, that we must beg our Lord to, to send us out into the world to show people the love of God the Father and the message of the salvation of Jesus Christ. We must pray to Him to give us the courage to be faithful to Jesus Christ, even when we would rather shrink away and not let others know we are Catholic Christians. I know how hard this can be and I have failed many times myself to give a true witness. We can lack courage and fortitude. We are too often afraid of what men may think of us, instead of what an awesome and all Holy God thinks of us.
The problem is we often fail to see and understand the power of God. Peter didn’t see it at first either. However, Peter obediently did what the Lord commanded, he trusted Jesus and put out into the deep and thus was successful in obtaining a large catch. We must not be afraid to put out into the deep, out into the deep of Christ. Its funny, but in the Gospels, the only time we are told the disciples caught any fish at all, was when they were with the Jesus. Otherwise, they were poor unsuccessful fishermen-it makes you wonder how they survived. The more we seek within ourselves for the power to change the world, our lives and to bring others to Christ, the more we fail. Let us turn to the Lord and trust in him alone.
The world needs every one of us here; no one can take our place. Many people seem indifferent to religion because they are caught up in the net of materialism and secularism of our day. They think that no one has the right to preach the truth, truth to them is of their own design, their own concept. They hate a Church that claims to have moral authority. In reality, they are literally starving to death for the truth and for the God of truth. They are, longing for those who will make sacrifices by living their daily lives in fidelity to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Lord says, whom shall I send? Let us not be afraid of the price of the call, if we are humble he will sustain us. Let us not let our unworthiness keep us from answering the call. God will purify us like he did to Isaiah if we but humble ourselves before his holy throne. Let us not be too proud to fall on our knees, even on our faces before the Lord God Almighty.
If we like St Peter fall on our knees in humble adoration admitting to our Lord, Lord I am a sinful man." We need to bring this humility to Holy Mass, we need to begin again to sing communion songs like, "O Lord I am not worthy, that thou should come to me, but speak the word of comfort my spirit healed shall be." And we need again as God's people to fall on a knees as we receive Him in Holy Communion.
Heavenly Father at this Holy Mass we humble come before your throne into the awesome presence of your glory which fills this, your Holy Sanctuary. We truly and really join our voices with the seraphs present here as they, sing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of host. As we sing this song in union with all of the angels and saints at this Holy Mass, we like Isaiah cry out to you in our wretched state, as ones with unclean lips living among people with unclean lips. As the seraphs touch Isaiah’s lips with a live coal taken from the altar, let the real live coal, the Blessed Sacrament the true presence of Jesus, touch our lips at Holy Communion so that our sins may be taken away and our iniquity purged. Then we can answer you with all of our being, "here I am send me.’ Let me become a fisher of men, a fisher of souls, so that through your grace and power living in me, I can bring others to your Son Jesus Christ. Holy Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us. Amen