Episode 32: Excuses, Excuses!

[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, February 9, 2025, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. This week's episode is entitled: Excuses, Excuses! and in these readings we'll take a look at some famous excuses offered by some famous - and successful - followers of God. As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: We don't always hear God the first time he calls us, but he is patient and persistent and doesn't give up on us. When he does finally get through to us, the task he gives us may be difficult, but we know he won't abandon us along the way. So, why are we so quick to offer him excuses rather than cooperation? [00:01:08] Let's begin. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of this day and for your unending love for us. Open our hearts to hear you when you call us. We know you will accompany us in whatever task you set before us, but we ask you to strengthen our resolve so that we say yes to you rather than offering another flimsy excuse. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:44] Now that we have opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from Luke 5: 1-11. “While the people pressed upon [Jesus] to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes’aret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb’edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” [00:03:26] Because the Feast of the Preparation of the Lord trumped the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time last week, we missed hearing the passage from Luke's Gospel telling how the people in Jesus' hometown turned against him and rejected even the possibility that that he could be the Messiah. After that, Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth and traveled on to Capernaum. Today, we hear Jesus calling his first disciples - the three men that will become his most trusted followers, his Inner Circle. [00:04:07] So let's join Jesus on the banks of the Lake of Gennesaret… “While the people pressed upon [Jesus] to hear the word of God,” Now, listening and hearing are two different things, right? We can listen distractedly when someone talks to us and we won't necessarily hear them. That's always been a problem - it's an even bigger problem in today's world with all of the electronic devices that grab and hold our attention! But listening and hearing, both, are the first steps we take in responding to God's initiative… to God's call. God always makes the first move… he always reaches out to us. It's up to us then to hear and respond. [00:05:04] “[Jesus] was standing by the Lake of Gennes’aret.” This particular body of water has several names! It has been called the Sea of Chinnereth, the Sea of Tiberias, the Lake of Gennesaret, but we know it best as the Sea of Galilee. It is a spring-fed inland sea, geographically the lowest freshwater lake in the world, and the Jordan River flows south out of the Sea of Galilee and ends in the Dead Sea. I will post some photos this week from the Sea of Galilee on my Instagram so you can get an idea of what Jesus would have seen. [00:05:51] “And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.” Typically, fishermen would be out on the water fishing most or all of the night, timing their return to shore to coincide with the morning fish markets where they could sell their catch, and then clean their boats and wash their nets in preparation for the next night's fishing. [00:06:17] “Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's,” The man we know as Peter or Simon Peter. “[Jesus] asked [Simon] to put out a little from the land. And [Jesus] sat down and taught the people from the boat.” Peter only would have had to take Jesus a short distance from the shore because sound carries well over water, right? So, it would have been easy for the crowd to hear Jesus. [00:06:46] “And when [Jesus] ceased speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’” [00:06:55] Jesus instructs Simon to sail out into deeper water, the depth of water where he would normally fish. He's asking Simon Peter to take a leap of faith, to do what Jesus asks. But that can serve as an invitation to us as well, right? To step out of our comfort zones and take some risks. [00:07:25] “And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!’” Notice, here, that Simon calls Jesus: Master. He is being cautious in how he addresses this new teacher. And essentially, he says: (sigh) this is going to be pointless! [00:07:46] I said earlier that most fishermen fish at night, and there was more than one reason for that. I mentioned the morning fish markets - that's certainly one reason. But, remember this was long, long centuries before the invention of nylon… which means that fishing nets - at the time - would have been made of natural fibers, things like cotton, or linen, or flax and those fibers - those nets - would have been visible during the day, even underwater. [00:08:21] So that's why fishermen would fish at night, so that their catch (their fish) wouldn't be able to see and avoid the nets like they could during the day. [00:08:33] “But at your word, I will let down the nets.” That was my own personal (sarcastic) spin on that phrase… I don't know how Peter said it… none of us do. And even if you say it well: but at your word, I will let down the nets (mildly enthusiastic)… even if you say it that way, it still sounds as if Simon is simply indulging Jesus. But, in fact, Simon is actually the first in this area to listen to Jesus and to obey his command. [00:09:10] “And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish;” Okay, typically, there would be two or three boats out working together, depending upon the type of net they were using. But because Simon didn't expect to catch anything, it was just Jesus and Simon out in the boat. That's who the word THEY refers to in that phrase: Simon and Jesus… and imagine Simon's surprise! They had worked all night and caught nothing, and now - on what appears to be the whim of someone who's not even a professional fisherman (I might point out) - Simon has a huge catch of fish! [00:09:52] “and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.” So, Simon and Jesus motioned to Simon's partners on the shore to bring the other boat and help haul in the nets. [00:10:05] “And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.” This is another one of those times that we tend to hurry past the words of Scripture without allowing their meaning to sink in… excuse the pun! Luke tells us… they filled both boats, TWO boats. It took two boats to bring in such a large catch of fish. And now, don't think of fish… think of people… think of Jews and Gentiles, meaning - on some level - that Jesus’ message is intended for everyone. [00:10:50] We are all part of that miraculous catch of fish. Because, after all, what is another name for the Church? The Barque of Peter, right? (B-A-R-Q-U-E, bark… not B-A-R-K, like bark of a tree), the Barque of Peter, right? It was Peter's boat (Simon's boat) that went out into the deep water and we were caught - and now we are safe in his boat, the Barque of Peter, the Church. [00:11:25] “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” [00:11:33] Notice that Simon's outlook has changed a bit, and along with it, how he addresses Jesus. He no longer calls Jesus: Master, he now acknowledges him as Lord. And, really, these words are Peter's excuse, right? Certainly, one of the most famous excuses recorded in Scripture. This is Peter saying: no, no, no, I'm afraid… I don't even know what you're going to ask me to do, but I don't want to do it. [00:12:04] And let's face it, we often respond in exactly the same way, don't we? We don't ever want our nice, comfortable lives to change, let alone have them turned upside down. And while Peter is certainly admitting his own sinfulness, that's just not a valid excuse. We're all sinful people, right? Every single one of us. But Jesus already knows that! So, sinfulness can never be the excuse we use to say no to Jesus. [00:12:49] “For [Peter] was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb’edee, who were partners with Simon.” Astonishment is the typical reaction to a sudden and unexpected encounter with the strange or miraculous, right? An encounter with, in this case, the awesome and powerful presence of God… God the Son. Not just astonishment, but a healthy dose of fear as well, if we're being honest! [00:13:25] “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid;’” That is also the typical reassurance that is offered, right? DO NOT BE AFRAID! He says that to us, too! Jesus reassures each one of us: do not be afraid, no matter what I ask you to do, I will be with you! Do not be afraid! [00:13:53] Jesus continues speaking to Simon, saying… “henceforth you will be catching men.” [00:14:00] And there is that beautiful metaphor for evangelization! And really, isn't that what we're all called to do? We are all, each and every one of us, called to share our knowledge and love of God with others. And if we do so gently, patiently, and lovingly, perhaps we, too, will draw a few people just a bit closer to Jesus. [00:14:32] “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” [00:14:38] When Luke tells us THEY LEFT EVERYTHING - that points to the radical and transformative nature of their encounter with Jesus. And Luke tells us they FOLLOWED HIM… they became his disciples. [00:14:58] And, not just any old disciples, right? They became Jesus’ Inner Circle, the men that were closest to Jesus, the ones that had the most profound experiences - they witnessed the Transfiguration, they saw him raise a little girl from death, they went aside with him to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. And these men, these three men, were called in the midst of their normal, everyday lives. [00:15:33] They were fishermen… they were working. That's what they did for a living… and that's when they received Jesus’ call. [00:15:47] And sometimes that's what happens to us, too. God's call will not necessarily come in the midst of some grand or momentous occasion. It's not necessarily going to come to us accompanied by thunder and lightning…. matter of fact, probably not. [00:16:12] Sometimes it's a simple, quiet whisper. [00:16:18] Sometimes it's a passage of Scripture that touches our heart in a new way, despite having heard it a thousand times. [00:16:30] Sometimes… sometimes it's a friend or a neighbor who's in need. [00:16:37] Sometimes it's an encounter with a perfect stranger. [00:16:42] Jesus can use any person, any time, any thing, to reach out to us. We just have to stop making excuses and listen to him! [00:16:58] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Isaiah 6: 1-2a, 3-8. [00:17:06] “In the year that King Uzzi’ah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train [of his garments] filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’ Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.’ And I heard the voice of the LORD saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” [00:18:21] This passage is from 1st Isaiah (that's chapters 1 to 39, also called the Book of Warnings), and it was written by the original prophet Isaiah, while, as you may recall, 2nd and 3rd Isaiah were written by subsequent generations of prophets - disciples of the original Isaiah - who wrote in his name. [00:18:43] Isaiah's purpose, his mission as a prophet, was never to keep Israel from its destiny - that was way beyond his capability - rather it was to make Israel aware of what would happen and why. [00:19:06] This particular passage is part of what are called the Emmanuel prophecies, which are recorded in chapters 6 to 12. [00:19:15] Now, Uzziah, whose story we actually read in 2 Chronicles, was the 10th king of Judah (the divided kingdom… the Southern Kingdom). He was by no means one of the worst kings, but he wasn't one of the best either. His reign ended in 742 B.C. which places Isaiah's call at that time. “In the year that King Uzzi’ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train [of his garments] filled the temple.” This story is what is referred to as a Call Narrative - and they describe how God calls people to undertake specific tasks or missions. The Bible is full of Call Narratives that summoned all kinds of people - from patriarchs like Noah and Abraham, to prophets like Jeremiah and Samuel, to everyday people like Esther and Lydia. The Call Narrative we hear today is - without a doubt - one of the most dramatic of all Call Narratives in the Old Testament. “Above him stood the seraphim.” The seraphim are one of the nine choirs of angels that exist in the heavenly realm, and they are only mentioned once in Sacred Scripture, and it is right here in Isaiah. Seraphim hold the highest rank among all the choirs of angels because they are the beings closest to God. And their name means burning or fiery ones because their love for God burns most intensely. “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” [00:21:17] I would like to spend a bit of time on this and share what I just recently learned. Now, it was always my understanding that the three-fold repetition of the word HOLY was the only way that God could be described as the holiest because there were no superlatives in ancient Hebrew… and by superlatives, I mean grammatical superlatives (word comparisons like good/better/best or big/bigger/biggest)… those comparisons simply didn't exist in Hebrew at the time. And while that is grammatically true, it's not the whole truth. I've learned that there were other ways to more accurately convey comparative meaning in ancient Hebrew so we need to look more thoroughly at our Christian understanding - or rather (I guess) misunderstanding - of that phrase. One Jewish author that I read suggested that the comparison was rhetorical rather than grammatical, meaning that Isaiah was illustrating the complete otherness of God, saying that God is unique, distinct, and totally set apart from any possible human understanding. The early Church Fathers, on the other hand, wrote that Isaiah's three-fold declaration referred to the Trinitarian nature of God: Father, Son, and Spirit - those three distinct persons that share one divine essence. But whether we look at this phrase from the Jewish perspective of God's otherness or the Christian perspective of God's Trinitarian nature, we need to understand better its theological richness. Isaiah goes on… “And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” We should hear the echo of Moses’ encounter with God on Mount Sinai in those words. We read in Exodus 19 that the whole mountain shook and was wreathed in smoke! That's the same experience that Isaiah has in the temple. [00:23:45] Isaiah replies to God… “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” [00:24:00] Okay, there's a lot going on in this short verse, so let's parse it out. When Isaiah says: I AM LOST… FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE LORD OF HOSTS he is referring to Exodus 33, where God told Moses on Mount Sinai (again, we're back to Mount Sinai): “man shall not see me and live” so Isaiah is, understandably, terrified fearing that he will not survive this encounter! And when Isaiah says: I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS he is offering God another one of those famous excuses because he feels completely unworthy. But he doesn't stop there, right? He goes even further, saying: I DWELL IN THE MIDST OF A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS meaning that not only is he unworthy, but the entire nation is unworthy! But, let's face it, no matter how many excuses people try to offer to God, he never takes no for an answer. So, what happened instead? [00:25:16] “Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.’” Remember, one of the fundamental purposes of fire in the Bible is to purify. So, when the angel touches a burning coal to Isaiah's lips, it is specifically and expressly to purify him. Purified and forgiven, Isaiah is then prepared to undertake the mission that God will set before him. There's an old saying… God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. What that really means is that none of us, on our own merits or by our own efforts, can ever be truly prepared to serve God. We are all unworthy, but God will give us the grace we need to fulfill whatever task he entrusts to us. [00:26:31] St. John Henry Newman famously wrote: “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.” That beautiful and humbling quote is something that each one of us needs to be reminded of before we try to offer God an excuse. He has entrusted each and every one of us with some mission that he has not given to anyone else. Good luck saying “NO” to that! [00:27:15] I also want to take just a brief little bit of time here to share something from the Catholic Mass that not everyone may be aware of - or realize its connection to this passage. During the Liturgy of the Word (that part of the Mass where we hear passages from the Bible), before the priest (the celebrant) approaches the ambo to proclaim the Gospel, he stands behind the altar and prays sotto voce (meaning quietly to himself) the following prayer: “Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God, that I may worthily proclaim your holy Gospel.” That prayer is based on this passage from Isaiah. So, the next time you see a priest stop behind the altar before proclaiming the Gospel, you'll know why. [00:28:11] Now, that prayer should remain in our hearts, too, right? Because we're all called to proclaim the Gospel in some way… sometimes by our words, but sometimes by the way we live. That prayer, and I'll repeat it: Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God, that I may worthily proclaim your holy Gospel, that prayer, along with St. John Newman's quote, remind us that God has a job for us to do, and he won't accept excuses from us any more than he did from Simon or Isaiah. Isaiah concludes this passage… “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’” [00:29:11] If you think back to what I said just a little while ago about the phrase: Holy, holy, holy - you'll remember that the early Church Fathers believed that the three-fold declaration was a reference to the Trinity. And I think it's worth noting here that God says: WHO WILL GO FOR US? [00:29:32] Not for me, for us… WHOM SHALL I SEND? WHO WILL GO FOR US? [00:29:43] Now the Jewish perspective on that suggests that God was actually referring to the Kingdom of Judah at that point, but the Christian perspective, on the other hand, suggests that the change in number - from singular to plural - is another reference to the Trinity. And notice God does not assume that Isaiah will say yes. God created man with free will and he always… always… respects our free will. [00:30:20] Isaiah's assent had to be freely given. He could have kept quiet, but he didn't. He said: SEND ME. Perhaps we, too, should stop offering excuses and say to God: send me! [00:30:42] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 138, and the refrain is: “Before the angels I sing your praise.” [00:30:50] And that, even just from the refrain, certainly shows why this Psalm goes so well with our passage from Isaiah. And here are the verses: “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the angels I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name. [Because of] your mercy and your faithfulness. You have exalted above everything your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me, my strength of soul you increased. All kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth; and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. Your right hand delivers me; the LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your mercy, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [00:31:53] That Psalm is an Individual Prayer of Confidence. In these verses, the Psalmist expresses gratitude and thanksgiving for God's enduring goodness and faithfulness. It is that mercy, that faithfulness, that serves as the basis for the Psalmist's genuine and heartfelt confidence in God. And remember, back when I said that God qualifies the called? Well, it is evident that the Psalmist believes that because he says: THE LORD WILL FULFILL HIS PURPOSE FOR ME! And, we know that he will do the same for us. [00:32:39] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 15: 1-11. “Now I would remind you, [brothers and sisters], in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Ce’phas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred [brothers] at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preached and so you believed.” [00:34:19] This is the 3rd passage that we hear this year from 1 Corinthians. It would have been the 4th if we had heard the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time last week instead of the readings for the Feast of the Presentation. And it's worth noting that the passage we missed is one nearly everyone has heard… it was 1 Corinthians 13. That is the… “love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, love is not pompous, love is not rude” passage, right? And we've all heard it - very probably at someone's wedding! I also want to point out that there is a longer and shorter version of this reading. So, if you hear a somewhat condensed version of this reading at your parish this weekend, you'll know why. And remember, 1 Corinthians is an Occasional Letter, meaning that it was written to address a specific occasion or concern. This section addresses the fear, expressed by some in the Corinthian community, that there is no resurrection. So, let's listen to what Paul has to say. “Now I would remind you, [brothers and sisters], in what terms I preached to you the gospel,” The word gospel, here, is not capitalized. It's not capital “G” Gospel because Paul is not talking about the New Testament books written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This Letter to the Corinthians was written about 56 AD - Mark, which was the earliest written Gospel (that's capital “G” Gospel) was written about 60 AD; Matthew and Luke were both written about 85 AD; and John, the latest of the Gospels, was written about 90 AD. So, Paul could not possibly have been talking about written Gospels in this letter. When he says gospel (lowercase “g” gospel), he means the good news… the news of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. [00:36:35] So Paul preached the good news… “which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast – unless you believed in vain.” [00:36:54] Existence beyond the grave was not unheard of in ancient philosophy - both Plato and Socrates wrote about an afterlife. But a Resurrection like Christ's (that's capital “R” Resurrection, by the way), his Resurrection… and our resurrection (lowercase “r” if you're keeping track) where we will join Jesus in the heavenly kingdom - that type of resurrection… those types of resurrections - are not a common philosophical concept… it is uniquely Christian. And that is precisely what Paul is saying here. If we don't believe that Christ was Resurrected from death, then all our belief is in vain because everything else we believe rests on that one singular truth! Paul goes on… “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,” Remember, Paul encountered the risen Christian on the road to Damascus! That very real event actually happened to him. So, anyone that denies the Resurrection of Christ denies Paul's very own firsthand experience and thereby denies everything else that Paul has to say! In other words, you can't believe part of it unless you believe all of it. And what is this message OF FIRST IMPORTANCE that Paul delivered to the Corinthians? “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Ce’phas, then to the Twelve.” [00:38:50] There are four foundational statements of creed - of belief - in that sentence: (1) Christ died; (2) he was buried; (3) he was raised; and… (4) he was seen after his Resurrection. [00:39:12] CEPHAS, of course, is Simon Peter and the TWELVE are the Apostles. [00:39:17] That four-fold statement of belief is the basis of everything else that Paul teaches, because again, he himself encountered the risen Christ. “Then he appeared to more than five hundred [brothers] at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” What Paul means here is that a lot of people saw Jesus alive after his Resurrection. A large number of witnesses, far too many people to have all been tricked by a mere phantom. But that was no apparition, says Paul. It was really Jesus and a lot of the people that saw him… a lot of those witnesses… are still alive and they can still testify to the fact of their seeing Jesus after his Resurrection. “Then he appeared to James,” This is James, the son of Alpheus, also known as James the Just… yes, he was one of the Twelve but also important enough to be mentioned separately (as Cephas was) because James was the head of the Church in Jerusalem. [00:40:34] “then to all the apostles.” Okay, we tend to think of the Apostles as just the Twelve, but apostle means one who is sent and if you think back to Luke 10, Jesus appoints 72 of his followers and sent them out two by two… so, certainly a lot more than just twelve apostles! [00:41:05] “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” Other translations say BORN OUT OF DUE TIME or ABNORMALLY BORN. There are a number of possible meanings for that phrase. The most common is that Paul suffered some sort of physical deformity - and some early Greek writers recount that Paul had crooked legs; another possible meaning is that Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus was so sudden and so intense that it would have been as unexpected as a premature delivery would be coming upon a pregnant woman; the third possibility (from a commentary dating back to the 19th century) says that Paul was born before the Ascension - before the Ascension took place and, you'll recall, one of the translations says: born out of due time. So, before the fact - the reality - of the Ascension. But regardless of which theory you find most to your liking, it is clear that Paul had a most unusual route to discipleship. [00:42:31] “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle,” This claim that he is less worthy to be an apostle than the men Jesus, himself, chose when he was alive is a rare instance of humility for Paul. And why does he say this? [00:42:56] “because I persecuted the Church of God.” There it was… Paul's (belated) attempt at an excuse which he offers because he so vigorously persecuted the Church which, of course, is well documented in Acts! Maybe a long coming excuse, but it's an excuse nonetheless. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” [00:43:28] Meaning that Paul, regardless of his previous actions, is now a faithful apostle… the apostle, in fact, to the Gentiles. “On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them,” And… there goes Paul's brief instance of humility! In truth, though, Paul did travel further, work harder, establish more churches, and endure greater hardships than many of the other apostles. Read Acts… read about some of his Missionary Journeys… he was beaten, he was stoned, he was shipwrecked… over and over all these terrible things happened to him. So, he did work harder - in many ways - than the other apostles. “though it was not I, but the grace of God, which is with me.” And with those words, Paul acknowledges that it was not his own human effort that accomplished all these things that he did, but rather it was God's grace that enabled him to do the work that he did. “Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” [00:44:47] Meaning, that it is the message that is important, not the messenger! [00:44:55] Sometimes, though, the message gets lost on its way to us, doesn't it? Especially when we're trying - really trying - to come up with a good excuse that gets us out of being closer to God… of living the Gospel… of becoming the person God intends us to be. [00:45:18] And excuses - let's face it - come in many forms… even if they're just in our own hearts and minds. [00:45:27] Maybe our excuse is that we avoid Church because… we don't like the priest at our parish… or maybe the music is bad… or the homilies are bad… or the congregation's too old… or there are too many young families… or the Mass times are inconvenient… the complaints can go on and on, right? But often our complaints are just the excuses we use to maintain our distance from God. And we spend so much time and effort making excuses, don’t we? Not just to God but even in our everyday lives! We tell ourselves: I'm not good enough… I'm not smart enough… not rich enough… brave enough… generous enough… pick one or fill in the blank with something else! We all make excuses… and we do it over and over again, right? Over and over again. But God is patient and he never gives up on us. No matter how many excuses we come up with, he's still there, waiting for us to say yes. So, maybe it's time we stopped making excuses! [00:46:57] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments send me an email at [email protected] Thank you for listening and until next we meet, may God shower His blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand. [00:47:16] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions. The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask. Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request. Thank you for listening and God Bless.