Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Year C)

In response to the Lord's call and his mission, Isaiah became one of the great intrapreneurial prophets in Jewish history, religion and culture. Jesus, the Nazarene is the great Christ-centered Intrapreneurs who revealed the hidden, Spirit-based, liberation and freedom intraprise of the indwelling and incarnate Christ, within each person and in our midst. This exciting, universal intraprise of re-connecting with the spiritual man, the Image of God, is called living, proclaiming and sharing the Paschal Mystery.

As the descended, incarnate, crucified, resurrected and ascended Christ, Jesus on Nazareth re-presented and modeled the hidden mystery of the kingdom living, which mankind lost at the Fall in the Garden of Eden. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus calls his apostles Peter, James and John to follow him as intrapreneurial soul winners, to be fishers of men. Like Jesus, they are called to proclaim the same Good News and lead souls to Christ, within the spiritual core and body of each person.

In this intrapreneurial soul winning, the virtues of wisdom, discernment, honesty, humility, obedience, courage and steadfastness must remain at the core of everything these Christ-centered, spiritually awake fishers of men think, say and do. Their goal is to overcome mankind's over identification and bondage to the false self and re-establish an appropriate re-identification with the spiritual man, Christ, the True Self.


Today’s Old Testament reading states that at the time of Isaiah’s initial call, the religious mindsets and practices in his culture were overly identified with the natural man. In a vision, the Lord revealed the hidden spiritual man to Isaiah. Through the spiritual dimension of his life, Isaiah saw the Lord’s presence, throne, majesty and glory in His temple and the kingdom of Christ within the midst of all the apparent sin and confusion. In great awe and distress Isaiah cried, ''Woe is me!" Isaiah modeled the spiritual awakening, discernment and transformation that needs to occur in every human heart, soul, mind and life.

Isaiah is symbolic of the crucified spiritual man, Image of God, now resurrected, awakened and ascending within each of person. After repentance and conversion, he heard Christ’s call to intrapreneurship and the intraprise of sharing one’s personal transformation and spiritual journey within his own religion and culture. He discerned previously hidden spiritual laws which were confirmed through his mystical human surrender to the will and reign of the Christ and the Holy Spirit, through his spiritual core and body.

In Christ-centered, Spirit-based soul winning, mindsets and religious practices are no longer dominated by the natural man, nor preoccupied with the letter of God’s law. Christ-centered intrapreneurs seek to discern and fulfill the spirit of God’s Law within their own religions. Like Jesus, intrapreneurial prophets seek guidance from the incarnate Christ, the spiritual man, the Image of God within every person.

Intrapreneurs may initially shrink from this divine call; the awesome task of leading souls to Christ, the spiritual man, within their own religions. Spiritually awake intrapreneurs gain courage, faith and wisdom because they learn to be totally guided, empowered by and dependent on the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the hidden truth of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus of Nazareth truly modeled how intrapreneurs in all religions and no religion can truly become soul winners and fishers of men in re-claiming our divine heritage in Christ, the Image of God.

Here are some of the questions and challenges which Christ-centered, spiritually minded intrapreneurs may face. How do I encourage spiritually blind individuals and groups in sharing this Christ-centered, Spirit-based, Gospel message within my faith community? How does my faith community discourage adherents from speaking out against over identification with the natural man and under identification with the spiritual man?

Is your faith community encouraging and facilitating worshiping, welcoming, caring, healing? Is it teaching contemplative prayer, spiritual growth and Christ-centered spiritual formation through the spiritual man in every person? Is your faith community seeking the fulfillment of the promise of the Paschal Mystery in Christ? Are members of your faith community being liberated from slavery and bondage to sin. Are they truly passing over into the freedom of God's love in Christ?

Angel of the Week: 'Steadfastness'

Prayer for the week: 'God is inherent in My Being'