Pastoral Reflection, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Grace is a hard thing to accept. Something in our human nature wants to tidy things up before we let someone over to visit our house. It’s natural but not always helpful. Why? Sometimes we are weak, sick, or … just prideful, and we don’t want to accept help or have anyone else see our weakness or neediness. Often, this very pride keeps us from receiving what we truly need. We hesitate to receive gifts, things, or experiences we don’t believe we deserve. This is the problem for Isaiah in the first reading today. He is having an incredible mystical experience and suddenly realizes that he’s a sinner (a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips). He wants to recoil from the experience, yet God reaches to him through an angel and says, “I’ll take care of that. You just listen.” Similarly, in today’s gospel reading, Peter recognizes that he’s with someone extraordinary, Jesus. He feels unworthy. “Go away, for I am a sinful man.” When God approaches us with ultimate love and acceptance, it’s hard to bear and hard to receive. As someone once said, “The difficult thing about the Good News is that it seems too good to be true.” Today we are invited to open the door, just a crack, to let Jesus in. Yes, the house is unswept, and dishes are in the sink. It’s not perfect. But it is precisely here where grace steps in.
Call to Action
There is a form of judgment in the Christian life that is important because it recognizes the truth and helps us conform to it. However, at least two forms of judgment in the Christian life are very destructive because they become barriers to love and grace. The first is self-judgment. St. Paul reached a point in his life when he said he didn’t judge himself anymore because he couldn’t figure out why he did some things and not other things. Years of psychotherapy may never uncover all our motivations! The second is the judgment of others. So many people stay away from the Church because they feel the heavy hand of judgment from fellow Christians or even the institution. This is a Holy Year, a Jubilee Year! This is a year of grace! What are you doing to welcome God’s children home? Use your GC Smart Text and Smart Email to reach out and invite the many to come home! Plan for a Lent of Welcome and Grace now!
Pastoral Action Points
- Join Teresa Meyer in a helpful Webinar on Feb. 12, 2025, at 10 AM CST on How to Use Your Database to Raise More. You can register here: How to use your Database to raise more.
- Lent begins March 5th. If you haven’t participated in a GC Smart Links or Smart Give drive in several months, now is a great time to do so. If need to learn how to do it, go to the Knowledge Center in your GiveCentral dashboard for instructions, or contact Teresa Meyer at teresa@givecentral.org.
Last modified: February 4, 2025
