“Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Lev 19:2) – 5th Sunday In Ordinary Time – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; February 9, 2025

Today, the prophet Isaiah shows us a vision of the greatness and majesty of God, surrounded by the Seraphim who cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy. 

Take note that while the prophet says that he ‘saw the Lord’, he does not describe for us the appearance of the Lord himself since God is greater than any image or idea that we can form of him. That is the reason for the Old Testament prohibition against graven images. Instead, the prophet describes the ‘glory of God’, that is to say the tremendous manifestation of his presence in the midst of the spiritual creation – represented by the Seraphim – and in the midst of the whole physical creation – ‘the whole world’.

He describes the Lord as being seated on a high and lofty throne. This throne is the spiritual part of creation in which, by means of his grace, God sits as in a place of honor.  That means that in the measure that we live in the grace of God our soul becomes a throne of God. The throne is high and lofty because the spiritual creation is the noblest and most lofty part of the whole created universe.

Next, the prophet says that the train of his garment filled the Temple. In the first place the Temple is the Temple of Solomon in ancient Jerusalem that existed at the time of Isaiah. This same building was a symbol of God’s dwelling and manifestation in the midst of the physical world. Consequently, the most perfect Temple will be the very body of Christ, the Son of God made man. In a broader sense the Temple can refer to the whole world in the measure that the visible world itself manifests the greatness of its invisible creator.  This is why the Seraphim cry out, All the earth is filled with his glory.

For ourselves, normally our eyes are closed to the glory of God that shines forth in all the earth – that is why it is even possible for men to doubt the existence of God. The Seraphim, however, see clearly the divine glory that is so often hidden from us. Further, the Seraphim, the highest part of the angelic world – the name means “burning ones” because they are aflame with divine charity – reveal to us that God is great: more lofty indeed than all of the visible world; more lofty indeed than the invisible world of created spirits; more lofty indeed that the Seraphim themselves. In a word, God is Holy and thrice Holy, because he is the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the presence of the holiness of God the Seraphim tremble, the Temple shakes, and the prophet becomes aware of his own sins, while his distance from the holiness of God fills him with fear.

It is less than two months since we celebrated Christmas, the birth of our Lord in Bethlehem. In the baby Jesus, God most holy drew near to us. Our hearts were kindled and felt the warmth of love in the presence of ‘God-with-us’ – our Emmanuel. God now has a human face and more than any other place in the visible creation the glory of God is revealed to us in the face of Jesus Christ. That is why now we can make images of the face of Christ and those who have been sanctified by him, the Virgin Mary and all the saints. The honor paid to the image is given to the person and redounds to the glory of God, who became man and sanctified the Virgin Mary and the saints.

But since God became man and drew near to us, doesn’t that mean also that God has set aside his majesty so that we can approach him with love and confidence rather than fear?

Yes and no. Yes, because it is no longer his tremendous power that should be the first motive of fear. No, because if we abuse his loving kindness, we again will then have everything to fear from the greatness of his majesty; no, because there is another kind of fear that accompanies love.

Writing to the Hebrews, St. Paul sets in contrast the Old Testament, characterized by the covenant on Mt. Sinai, made amid a tremendous display of God’s might and power, and the New Covenant, represented by Mount Zion, (cf. Gal 4:21-5:1) about which he says: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God who is judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than the blood of Abel. (He 12:22-24)

Mount Zion here refers to the altar of the holy sacrifice of the Mass; the invisible reality of the Mass is described for us; it is a reality that is majestic and beautiful with the greatness of God’s love, shown to us in the New Covenant, shown to us through the Blood of Christ, poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus, the Son of God has given us his Body and Blood; he has given us his heart. Yes, now he is seated in glory at the right hand of his Father and can no longer suffer any physical injury, but for our part recognizing the gift of his love and the trust he shows us in holy communion, we should recognize our own weakness and capacity to offend, to be ungrateful, and so make every effort through our attention and reverence to be careful with the gift of his love.

Unfortunately, it seems that our Christian faith at times leads us to feel the nearness of God so strongly that we take it for granted and forget that in Christ we meet the same Holy God that Isaiah saw enthroned above the Seraphim; we see the man, but we miss the glory.

The same Lord of hosts whose glory was beheld by Isaiah makes himself present on our altars during the consecration of the most holy Eucharist. This is why, in anticipation of the event, we will soon join our own voices to those of the Seraphim, singing, Holy, Holy, Holy.

Today’s Gospel shows us the identity between Jesus Christ and the Holy God seen by Isaiah and worshiped by the Seraphim. By means of the miraculous catch of fish Jesus manifests his divinity to St. Peter and his companions. Peter’s response to this manifestation of the divine corresponds to the response of Isaiah when he beheld the majesty and glory of God. Isaiah said, Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And St. Peter falling to his knees declares, Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.

When God manifests himself, our sins also become manifest in the light of God’s holiness. If we lack a strong consciousness of sin, this is because we have not known the greatness and majesty of God. The saints always had a deep awareness of their sinfulness; St. Francis of Assisi identified himself as the greatest of sinners. At times we do not want to know the greatness and majesty of God because we don’t want to be confronted with the reality of our own sins.

When we have only a human concept of goodness; when we compare ourselves only with other men, we can rest content and say to ourselves, “I am a good man; I don’t commit any crimes. Yes, at times I tell lies, but only small lies, and everyone does that. Yes, at times I cheat others, but only once in awhile and only in small ways, and everyone does that. I am a good man, better than most, and certainly better than criminals or religious hypocrites.” These are ‘comfortable’ thoughts, but very false and illusory thoughts. The presence and majesty of the God who tells us, Be holy because I, the Lord, am holy (Lv 19:1), dissolves these illusions and banishes their falsehood.

When we come face to face with the holiness of God we are obliged to make a choice. We can flee and hide ourselves, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden. We can flee, but in the last analysis we can never escape God, nor will be able to find true happiness and peace following that path. Or we can turn back to God by means of the painful but saving way of penance. This is what Isaiah did; this is what St. Peter did. This is the royal road to true peace. Jesus Christ gives us confidence and courage to follow this road.

Consider the pain of Isaiah. In order to cleanse him from his sins, one of the Seraphim touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar, saying, Your wickedness is removed, your sin purged. Through the pain of penance Isaiah enters into the peace of God.

Consider the pain of St. Peter. Falling to his knees before Jesus he confessed that he is a sinful man. Later, after denying Jesus three times, he will weep bitter tears in order to be restored to his friendship. Jesus says to him: Fear not. From now on you will be catching men.

The path towards God by means of penance is very difficult and we cannot make the journey without the help of Jesus Christ. This is why he became a man – in order to redeem us from our sins, to bring to us the burning coal of purification from the altar of God, and to give us confidence that we are able to draw near to God and find forgiveness for our sins. As a man at our side he says to us: Fear not.

So it is that St. Paul writes, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. (2 Cor 5:19) And in the Letter to the Hebrews we read, We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God … We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find the help of grace in the time of need. (Heb 4:14,15-16)

When we turn back to God, He purifies us and transforms us and makes us to be worthy of Himself. Then he makes us to be His messengers, just like Isaiah, just like St. Peter, just like St. Paul, so that we can proclaim the good news of the forgiveness of sins and peace in God. So it is that St. Paul writes, We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)