Together in Spirit

Browsing From the Desk of Fr. Mike

We are God's Instruments

In both the first reading and the Gospel this week as people encountered the holiness of God they are brought to a stunning humility. Isaiah cries out: “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips.” In the Gospel Peter falls to Jesus’ knees crying out: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Yet, the story does not end there. In both cases God acts and makes them his instruments. The apostle Paul recognizes this as he writes to the Corinthians: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.” In all instances there is both an admittance of the person’s deepest reality and an embrace of the graciousness of God.

The Church attempts to bring us to the same place by beginning the Mass with a penitential rite. We ask you to remember that you are sinners so that you can cry out to Him who can heal you: “Lord have mercy” and we hear his response: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and lead us to life everlasting.” From there we move into the celebration of Christ’s continuing work of salvation through His Word and sacrament. In the mature Christian life we live in the dependency of God’s grace realizing that it is His work within us that allows us to be His witnesses in the world. God is the one who lifts us out of our sinful realities so as to make us his instruments even today.

 

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