TEXT: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 9, 2025
February 9, 2025 Father De Celles Homily
5th Sunday Ordinary Time
February 9, 2025
Homily by Fr. John De Celles
St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church
Springfield, VA
A few weeks before my ordination to the priesthood,
a wise and experienced priest friend of mine told me,
“You are not worthy to be a priest.”
I was stunned—even a little angry.
But then he added, “And I’m not worthy either.”
The truth is, no one is worthy to even touch Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament,
much less be the instrument
of making Him present in the Blessed Sacrament.
Anyone who thinks he is, shouldn’t even touch the Eucharist,
much less be ordained.
And if you disagree with me, why do you always say,
just before approaching Him in Communion,
“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…”
Everything is a gift from God—and we’re not worthy of any of it…on our own.
This is one of two central themes of all three readings today.
In the first reading, when Isaiah has his vision of the Lord he says,
“Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips,
…yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Isaiah is afraid that since he is a sinner, and unworthy to see God,
God will strike him dead.
Even the great St. Paul doesn’t consider himself worthy to serve Jesus,
as he says in today’s 2nd reading,
“I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.”
And most strikingly, when the great St. Peter recognizes that
he’s in the presence of the Christ, today’s Gospel tells us,
“He fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’”
Yet every day you and I take so much for granted.
We act as if everything we receive is our birthright,
even though we’re all descendants of Adam and Eve,
born of a family of sinners,
cast out from paradise, and unworthy of even God’s mercy.
And like our first parents, Adam and Eve,
we carry on the family tradition: Each of us is a sinner.
Yet, as sinful and undeserving as we are, God still loves us.
So He makes us worthy by His mercy and by His grace.
As St. Paul tells us today, after proclaiming his unworthiness,
“But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace to me has not been ineffective.”
It’s not anything we do that makes us worthy of Christ’s love;
He doesn’t owe us a thing. He simply loves us and freely gives to us.
And, as St. Augustine once said, everything He gives us is a “grace.”
Now, let’s be clear. We are inherently good
because we are made in the image and likeness of God Himself.
Even that goodness is a gift from God.
But it’s been tarnished by the original sin of Adam and Eve
and our own personal sins.
Ever since the original sin, and every time there’s been a sin since then, though,
God has longed to give us His greatest gift possible:
He wanted to give us Himself
–not simply to restore us to our home in an earthly paradise,
but to bring us to His home in heaven.
And so, since mere human beings (and sinners)
can’t make ourselves worthy of His love, God steps in and does it Himself.
____
In the story of Isaiah, God sends His angel to purify Isaiah,
taking an ember from the altar
and touching it to Isaiah’s mouth, and saying,
“Your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
And with that, he is ready to serve God as His prophet.
Nowadays, angels don’t fly around with burning embers to purify our lips.
Instead, Jesus Himself gives us the sacraments,
in particular the sacrament of Baptism–the purifying water pouring out His sanctifying grace–which cleanses us from Original Sin and prepares us to enter into His presence.
And when, by our own choices, we return to our sins, especially our grave sins,
He pours His sanctifying grace on us again and again,
purifying us in the sacrament of Penance.
And as we come before Him at Holy Mass, not aware of any mortal sins,
but very much aware of all the small—venial—sins of our lives,
and realize that even now we’re not completely
“worthy that He should enter under our roof,”
we beg Him, “ Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
Then, He comes to us in Holy Communion,
wiping away all these venial sins
and filling us with every grace and heavenly blessing.
This is the fountain of grace poured out on us, making us worthy
not only to stand in the presence of Christ, but to share in His life.
So, St. Paul tells us today,
“I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.”
This is the same grace we find Jesus promising in today’s Gospel
as He tells Peter, “From now on you will be catching men.”
Peter won’t be “catching men” by his own power.
As St. Matthew’s gospel recorded, Jesus added,
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
It is Christ and His power that makes them fishers of men.
And it is only by being with Christ and “following” Him
that it is possible for this grace to come into their lives
—even though they are completely unworthy.
____
This brings us to the second central theme in each of the three readings today.
Each of the key characters of the readings
is called to do something particular for the Lord:
Isaiah is called to be the great prophet of the Messiah;
even more, Paul and Peter, and James and John,
are called to be the apostles of the Messiah.
None is worthy of even being in God’s presence,
and yet He makes them worthy to become His great and powerful
prophets and apostles.
Like Isaiah and the apostles, God, Jesus, comes to us,
and by His grace brings us into His presence
and gives each a vocation in His divine plan for the salvation of the world.
Some He calls to leave everything behind to become fishers of men
—priests and bishops, and, in some sense, religious sisters and brothers.
But most He calls to remain with their work and families.
And there, in the midst of ordinary life,
He sends them—you—to imitate the prophet Isaiah
and proclaim God’s word to your friends and family
and anyone who will listen.
To imitate St. Paul and “toil hard” for Christ.
To imitate St. Peter and “not be afraid” to follow Jesus wherever He leads
us to catch spouses, children, friends, and even enemies,
in the net of the Gospel.
None of us is worthy of any of this, and none of us can do it on our own.
But as Jesus tells us elsewhere,
“What is impossible for man, is not impossible for God.”
And so, by God’s grace we are made worthy
and made capable of doing the impossible.
___
In a few moments you will prepare yourself to receive Holy Communion,
and you will follow the example of Isaiah and Paul and Peter
and fall on your knees and say, “Lord I am not worthy.”
Today the Lord reminds you that with all of your faults, He still loves you
and has restored you to grace in baptism and penance.
He longs to come to you personally, now, to fill you with His grace.
Today He will not send a heavenly angel
with a burning ember taken from the altar.
Instead, He will send an unworthy priest
with Christ Himself burning with love for us
in the host taken from the altar.
Receive this host, which “by the grace of God” is the very Body of Jesus Himself.
And by His grace be made worthy of His love, be not afraid to follow Him,
and join Him in catching others in the net of His Gospel.