Today we consider the call to continue the mission of Jesus by engaging in some form of ministry. The first and the last readings are call narratives; the epistle contains a statement of the faith that undergirds our response to our call; the psalm response celebrates the gracious goodness of God that makes all of this possible.
Our call is more than a summons to faith; it is a call to ministry. Isaiah is called in order to be sent; the fishermen are called in order to gather others to Jesus. So it is with us. We are called to be sent out to the world. This call comes to us in the ordinariness of life. It will usually come to us as we wash our nets or our dishes, as we teach or raise children, as we prepare a brief for trial or examine a patient; as we repair cars or work at the computer. The call of God comes to us in the ordinariness of life.
We are called to proclaim the message of the resurrection by any and every means possible. Some, like Isaiah and the disciples of Jesus, will witness in open and dramatic ways. They will teach and preach; they will nurse the sick and care for the elderly. Others will witness in less conspicuous ways. They will insist on fair practices in their own workplaces; they will weed out expressions of prejudice and violence so that a new and just world can be fashioned for themselves and for their children. Called in the ordinariness of their lives, they will witness to the death and resurrection in that very ordinariness, thus transforming everything into extraordinariness.
Dianne Bergant CSA - https://www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Feb09/0/RefDiBer