Make Us New

A Reflection on the First Reading for Februrary 10th:
​Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 6

1 In the year that King Uzzi'ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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!" 6 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven." 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

---

“Here I am! Send me”.

These can be hard words to say to God. As Isaiah explains, there is a process to go through before we can be ready to confidently say these words. Isaiah has a consistent message through his book—return, repent, and be renewed.

That message is here in chapter 6:1-8. In his vision, Isaiah acknowledges he has strayed from God, “Woe is me! For I am lost”. I am sure we can all relate to that feeling to some degree. Some of us wander farther than others, but we all know how easy it is to stray. Sin gets the better of us and it creates a separation between us and God. The more we sin, the bigger the separation, and sometimes we can reach the point where we don’t see a need for God in our lives anymore.

That’s why it’s important to repent of our sins—to narrow the gap between us and God. In his vision, Isaiah repents, “for I am a man of unclean lips”. He acknowledges before God his sins, just as we are called to do. Have you ever gone to confession and come out feeling like a new person? Going to confession is a cleansing of the soul when we are burdened by our sins. God desires to renew us when we repent. He wants to make us new again.

"That’s why it’s important to repent of our sins—to narrow the gap between us and God."

Tweet

If you’ve ever been transformed through God’s forgiveness, you know the power of His goodness. By the grace of His forgiveness, our desire to learn and to grow in faith increases. His mercy produces a different joy than that which comes from this world.

“Here I am! Send me”.

When we experience God’s presence, our desire to serve Him also grows. Saint Benedict Parish is a great example of a community of servants who want to serve God and His church. The amount of people serving in ministry, giving God their “yes”, and asking Him to send them, is so inspiring that people around the world want to know why. At the root of it, it is because so many people have returned, repented and were made new.

I too want to stand before God and say “Here I am! Send me”. I want God to use me because I want to help build up His church. I’ve experienced His renewal and I want others to experience it too. Every time I say yes to God He takes me on a great journey. As I start a new chapter in my life, I once again stand before God saying, “Here I am! Send me”. I submit myself to Him and pray that He will use me.
​
​Tammy LeBlanc

---