5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C 2025
I have never visited the Grand Canyon, but from what others have told me, one experience is nearly universal. You think you know what to expect. You’ve seen pictures and perhaps read about it. But standing at the edge, looking into that vast chasm, you suddenly feel small. So small that you instinctively take a step back, overwhelmed by its sheer scale. Something similar happens to Isaiah and Peter in today’s readings. They encounter not a canyon, but the living God, and their first reaction is fear. Isaiah even says in rather dramatic fashion “Woe is me, I am doomed!” They recognize their own unworthiness before the power and holiness of God. And yet, rather than turning them away, God calls them to a mission. These episodes tell us something about the role of fear in our relationship with God. Peter and Isaiah witness a theophany, God’s self-revelation, and both tremble, fearful of the power of God. They fear th...