The response after the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews and before today’s gospel selection is from the call to Isaiah the Prophet found in the sixth chapter of The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It is a rich passage that includes the “Holy, Holy, Holy” so familiar to us from the Eucharistic Prayer near the center of mass. Isaiah is led to recognize that he is called by God and he responds with vigor: “Here am I, Lord; send me (into your service)”.

These words have always struck me as the kind of attitude needed by anyone who would freely respond to God’s call in one’s lives whenever and wherever God calls. I read in Isaiah’s words great willingness and desire. And for Isaiah it comes at a time when he was clearly conscious of his unworthiness to be of service – “I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) And so he seems to be throwing himself into the Hands of God and trusting that God would be his guide as he exercises his being a “prophet” (literally “one who speaks for God”).

The lesson here seems fairly obvious: that in accepting a call from God, whether it is to speak God’s word to multitudes like Isaiah, or to respond humbly to God’s call in the very ordinary events of our everyday lives, the very same dynamics are in play. We are, like Isaiah, to look to God for the strength to carry out the call. Isaiah, of the unclean lips and we, of the not-feeling-ready-for-whatever-reason are asked to give up our fears and act boldly and fearlessly simply because we are invited to by God.

Lord, help me to realize humbly the importance of my day-to-day activities and to see your presence in them. Keep me open to your ongoing invitations to grow as a person of faith and as your disciple. Keep me faithful to loved ones and to my daily and oftentimes humdrum tasks and to discover You in the midst of them.