I am sure that we all recognize at least part of our first reading today, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!  All the earth is filled with his glory.”  In the Orthodox Church, it is called the thrice-holy hymn.  In our own tradition, it is known as the “Sanctus.”  We recite it or sing it at every single Mass that is celebrated.

 

There is a very interesting point about this hymn – a point that is very easily overlooked.  Notice this:  “They cried one to the other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!  All the earth is filled with his glory!’”  The Seraphim are giving praise to God, but they are singing to each other.

 

Brothers and sisters, that is a powerful reminder to each of us that if we really want to give God the praise and glory that is his due, we must be ready and willing to tell others about the wonderful things he has done in our lives.  We need to recognize that we are sent to proclaim the good news.

 

In each of our readings today, we hear about a person’s authentic encounter with God and how that encounter leads the person to proclaim God’s message.

 

            Isaiah’s vision of the glory of the Lord filling the Temple in Jerusalem ends with him hearing God ask the question, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?”  Isaiah answers, “Here I am, send me!”

 

            Paul tells the Corinthians how the meeting he had with Jesus filled him with the grace to preach to them.

 

            Peter’s meeting with Jesus ends with Jesus telling him that, “from now on you will be catching men.”

 

 

Many things act against us and our desire to talk about God.  Sometimes we fear what other people, especially those who are not believers, will think of us if we start talking about God.  But how will someone without faith ever hear about it if we do not speak about our own faith?  Where would any of us be today if Isaiah, Peter, and Paul had not gone around telling people about God?  Where would we be today if someone – a parent, a friend, a grandparent, or whoever – had not talked about God at least a little bit with each one of us.

 

Sometimes, our own sense of our sins and our unworthiness can shut us down and make us hesitant to talk about God.  But God does a wonderful thing – He reaches across that chasm that our sins have dug between us and Him, and He fills it in with His love.  He purifies us, and He makes us holy.

 

           

 

When Isaiah saw the Lord, he was overwhelmed with the sense of his own sinfulness.  “Woe is me, I am doomed!” he says, “For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips….”  But the Lord sends the angel with the burning ember to purify Isaiah.

 

            Peter, when he realizes how holy Jesus is, falls down and cries out, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am sinful man.”  But Jesus tells him not to be afraid.

 

            And Paul very plainly identifies his unworthiness to proclaim the good news of Christ: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”  But then he goes on to say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.  Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.”

 

            Brothers and sisters, we are, every one of us, weak, limited, and sinful creatures.  And we will struggle with that throughout our lives.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.”  We cannot let our weakness and our sins stop us from talking about God.  We must constantly remind ourselves of the love and mercy that God continually offers to us.  That – God’s grace, His love, His mercy – is power for us, just as it was power for Paul.  And it is the message that the world needs to hear: God loves us, and Jesus died for our sins.

 

            Every time we come to Mass, we are renewed and strengthened in God’s grace.  We are given the power from God to proclaim the good news.  Today, as we come forward to receive communion, I want each of us to think about that reading from Isaiah.  Specifically, I want us to think about that burning ember that the angel brought from God’s altar to purify Isaiah’s lips.  Recall that when you receive communion, you receive the purifying fire of God’s love:  the love that consumes all sin; the love that empowers us to share that wonderful news.