Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle C

FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE C

LUKE 5:1-11

DO YOU REMEMBER THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? THERE ARE SEVEN: WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, COUNSEL, FORTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE, PIETY, AND FEAR OF THE LORD. THESE GIFTS MOVE US INTO THE REALM OF THE SUPERNATURAL, AND HELP US TO DEVELOP OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. ULTIMATELY THEY COME TO US AS A RESULT OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST. BRIEFLY, WISDOM ALLOWS US TO PROPERLY VALUE THINGS AS THEY PERTAIN TO OUR ULTIMATE DESTINY; UNDERSTANDING TELLS US WHY WE VALUE THEM; COUNSEL HELPS US MOVE IN THE DIRECTION THAT WISDOM LAYS OUT FOR US; FORTITUDE HELPS US OVERCOME DIFFICULTIES ALONG THE WAY, KNOWLEDGE HELPS US TO SEE INTO THE DEEPER TRUTHS OF OUR FAITH, PIETY HELPS US TO FORM A REALISTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD – CREATURE TO CREATOR; AND FEAR OF THE LORD – WELL, THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME ON TODAY.

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WERE FIRST DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. THE HEBREW WORD WHICH IS TRANSLATED AS “FEAR OF THE LORD” CAN ALSO BE TRANSLATED AS AWE, AND IS RELATED TO THE WORD THAT MEANS “HOLY”. AND TODAY WE SEE SAINT PETER EXPERIENCING THIS GIFT OF THE SPIRIT. REMEMBER THAT PETER HAS ALREADY JOINED JESUS; JUST BEFORE THIS STORY, JESUS HAD HEALED PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW. AND NOW, IN RESPONSE TO THE MIRACULOUS CATCH OF FISH, PETER, WHO HAS WITNESSED JESUS HEALING PEOPLE AND ALREADY HEAR HIM TEACHING, AND IN FACT ALREADY COMMITTED HIMSELF TO FOLLOWING JESUS, FALLS TO HIS KNEES AND PRAYS THAT JESUS DEPART FROM HIM, FOR HE IS A SINFUL MAN.

FEAR OF THE LORD IS A DIFFICULT GIFT TO GRASP. THERE WAS A PHILOSOPHER NAMED RUDOLPH OTTO WHO WROTE A BOOK CALLED “THE IDEA OF THE HOLY”. IN IT HE TALKED ABOUT A UNIVERSAL HUMAN EXPERIENCE, A SENSE OF GREAT ATTRACTION AND AT THE SAME TIME, A DESIRE TO BE SOMEWHERE ELSE; A FEELING OF SMALLNESS IN THE FACE OF SOMETHING OVERWHELMING; A FEELING OF BEING LIFTED OUT OF THE ORDINARY INTO A STATE OF BEING IN WHICH THERE SEEMED TO BE NO LIMITATIONS. AND WHILE IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE, I THINK WE'VE ALL HAD THIS EXPERIENCE, MORE THAN ONCE. PERHAPS AT THE TIME OF A WEDDING; PERHAPS ON A MOUNTAINTOP, OR ON THE SEASHORE WATCHING WAVES ROLL IN; PERHAPS DURING A FIERCE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING STORM; PERHAPS DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF AN EXQUISITE PIECE OF MUSIC. PEOPLE LIKE SAINT FRANCIS SEEMED TO HAVE SUCH EXPERIENCES ALL THE TIME – ALMOST ANYTHING IN NATURE COULD TRIGGER AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF WONDER IN HIM.

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE MEANT TO BE EXERCISED. YOU RECEIVED THE GIFT OF WISDOM FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT UNLESS YOU EXERCISE THE GIFT, YOU DON'T BECOME WISE; AND THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR THE OTHER GIFTS. IF COUNSEL TELLS US WHAT TO DO, AND WE DON'T EXERCISE FORTITUDE TO DO IT, WE'LL BE FRUSTRATED IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES. SO WHAT ABOUT THIS GIFT CALLED “FEAR OF THE LORD”? HOW DO WE EXERCISE IT? WHY SHOULD WE?

THE THINGS I DESCRIBED BEFORE, POSSIBLE MOMENTS WHEN YOU MIGHT HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SENSE OF AWE THAT SOMETIMES SPRINGS UP IN US, ARE NATURAL REACTIONS TO THINGS THAT WE SEE, THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO US. BUT THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS SENSE OF AWE IN THE PRESENCE OF NATURE, OF BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, OF PROFOUND EMOTIONAL EVENTS, IS AT THE SAME TIME A SENSE OF GOD'S PRESENCE IN HIS CREATION. AND THE ABILITY TO EXPERIENCE THIS CAN BE INCREASED; WE CAN BECOME MORE SENSITIVE TO GOD'S PRESENCE.

HOW DO WE DO THAT? FIRST, WE LOOK FOR THAT SENSE, AND ALLOW OURSELVES TO EXPERIENCE IT. THE ENEMY OF “FEAR OF THE LORD” IS CYNICISM. WHEN WE EXPERIENCE AWE, WE NEED TO STOP AND FEEL IT AND LET OURSELVES BE MOVED BY IT. WE NEED TO CONSCIOUSLY RECOGNIZE THAT GOD IS PRESENT TO US IN A SPECIAL WAY WHEN THIS HAPPENS. AND WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE IN THOSE MOMENTS THAT WE ARE CREATURES AND WE BELONG TO GOD. IF THERE IS A PARTICULAR ACTIVITY OR EVENT THAT GENERATES THOSE MOMENTS IN US, WE SHOULD INCREASE OUR EXPOSURE TO IT. IF WE HAVE THAT SENSE WHEN WE LISTEN TO BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, THEN WE SHOULD LISTEN MORE; IF WE FIND IT WHEN WE ARE ON A MOUNTAIN TOP, WE NEED TO SPEND MORE TIME ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP.

AS WE NURTURE THE ABILITY OF OUR SOULS TO SENSE GOD'S PRESENCE, IT WILL HAPPEN MORE OFTEN; AND WE WILL BEGIN TO NOTE THAT PRESENCE IN OTHER MOMENTS, PERHAPS MOMENTS WHICH HAD NOT TRIGGERED IT BEFORE.

ALL THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT ARE FOR US, SO FEAR OF THE LORD MUST BE AS WELL. WHEN WE BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE THE PRESENCE OF GOD ON MORE THAN A MERELY INTELLECTUAL LEVEL, THERE IS AN EFFECT ON OUR SOULS. LIKE SAINT PETER, WE BEGIN TO SEE OURSELVES SIMULTANEOUSLY AS LOVED BY GOD AND AT THE SAME TIME, AS SINNERS. WE ARE DEEPLY ATTRACTED TO THE ONE WHO LOVES US, AND WE REALIZE THAT WE NEED FORGIVENESS. THIS IS REALISTIC; THIS IS THE WAY WE REALLY ARE.

SO FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT LEADS US TO EXERCISE ALL THE OTHER GIFTS. FOR WHEN WE REALIZE WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR US AND THAT THERE IS SOMETHING BEYOND OUR MATERIAL EXISTENCE, THEN WE HAVE A REASON TO EXERCISE THE OTHER GIFTS SO THAT WE CAN REALLY FILL UP THE EMPTINESS IN OUR HEARTS; SO THAT WE CAN REALLY BE COMPLETED IN OUR HUMANITY.