Better get a bigger boat!

 So many people tell me, “I am not worthy!” …to be a lector, an extraordinary minister of the eucharist…to be on pastoral council …or finance council or to get involved at all. The fact is, NO ONE is worthy. I am certainly not worthy of being a priest…in fact, my mother said on the day of my ordination, “my son had a better chance of winning the new york state lottery than becoming a priest."She knew my sinfulness, she knew my mistakes and wrong choices in my life. So did God and Jesus.

When we feel less than, when we have low self-esteem, when we feel that we aren’t enough, we somehow think that others feel the same way about us as if we had a sign saying stay away…unclean! But they don’t, especially God, and Jesus.

So we can identify with the characters of the readings who acknowledge that their sinfulness should disqualify them from working for and with the plan of salvation. Isaiah identifies his unclean lips, Paul identifies his persecution of the church, and Peter identifies his general sinfulness as why God and Jesus should stay away.

God and Jesus do the exact opposite; they move closer. Despite their sins, they are called to do specific jobs for the Kingdom: prophecy, build, and lead.

We are all sinners; we all have our bag of tricks that seem to disqualify us from working for the Kingdom, but that is simply untrue; it could even be seen as a cop-out to not do anything. We can try to push God and Jesus away, but that just seems to make them move closer because they know our heart, they know what our gifts and talents are even if we don’t, they call us to something more, something beyond what we think our limitations are, beyond our fears.

So, when we think God and Jesus are calling us beyond ourselves to something more remarkable for the Kingdom, it may be for our parish, it may be for the poor, it may be for anyone in need. Let us recognize that God and Jesus know us better than we do, and when they say "whom shall we send? " Let’s not say "get away, for I am a sinner"…let us say "here I am, send me!

- God bless!