Here am I, Lord, send me
Isaiah 6:8 — “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
This verse marks the climax of Isaiah’s prophetic call in the temple vision and serves as a foundational model in Catholic tradition for vocation, conversion, mission, and apostolic availability. The Church sees in it a pattern repeated in the lives of the saints and in the universal call to holiness and service.
The Context of the Vision (Isaiah 6:1–8) In the year King Uzziah died (c. 740 BC), Isaiah is granted a majestic theophany: the Lord “high and exalted” on His throne, with the hem of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim (fiery, six-winged angels) cry out the Trisagion: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (v. 3). This triple acclamation is understood by the Church as an early revelation of the Trinity and is echoed in the Sanctus of every Mass.
Overwhelmed by God’s holiness, Isaiah cries out in unworthiness: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (v. 5). A seraph takes a burning coal from the altar with tongs, touches Isaiah’s lips, and declares: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out” (v. 7). Only after this purification does Isaiah hear God’s call and respond with total availability.
The Catholic Church sees the burning coal as a profound Old Testament image of the purifying grace of God—foreshadowing the sacraments of Reconciliation (forgiveness of sin) and especially the Eucharist, where we receive the living “coal” of Christ Himself. Church Fathers such as St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. John Chrysostom developed this Eucharistic reading, viewing the coal as a symbol of Christ who consumes our sins and sets us aflame with divine love.
Isaiah’s Response: “Here I Am. Send Me!” The Hebrew hineni (“Here I am”) expresses immediate, humble readiness and surrender. In Catholic teaching, this mirrors the response of faith and obedience to God’s initiative. God does not coerce; He invites (“Whom shall I send?”), and the purified soul answers generously. The plural “for us” is seen as a hint of the mystery of the Trinity. The *Catechism of the Catholic Church* (CCC) places this within the broader theology of vocation: every person is created with a personal calling that leads to beatitude and service (see CCC 1, 358, 1603–1605, etc.).
Isaiah exemplifies how God qualifies the called rather than calling the qualified—grace precedes and enables our “yes.”
References in the Saints and Church Tradition
- Priestly and Religious Vocations: The response “Here I am, send me” is invoked in the rite of ordination and discernment of vocations. Those called to Holy Orders echo Isaiah’s words as they offer themselves for the service of the Church and the People of God. -
Missionary Saints: St. Francis Xavier and countless missionaries embodied this spirit, leaving everything to proclaim the Gospel. The Church’s missionary mandate (see Matthew 28:19–20 and Vatican II’s *Ad Gentes*) draws on this prophetic model. -
Universal Call to Holiness and Apostolate: Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium (Chapter 5) teaches that all the baptized are called to holiness and participate in the prophetic mission of Christ. Every Christian, in their state of life (marriage, single, consecrated, ordained), is invited to say, “Here I am, send me” in daily life—through witness, charity, and evangelization. -
Church Fathers: Early commentators like St. Jerome (in his *Commentary on Isaiah*) and others emphasized the need for purification before mission, a theme echoed by St. Thomas Aquinas in his scriptural exegesis, which integrates literal and spiritual senses.
The Challenging Mission and Application Today God immediately gives Isaiah a difficult task: to preach to a people whose hearts would be hardened (vv. 9–10), until judgment and exile come, yet with hope of a holy remnant. This foreshadows the mystery of the Cross—obedience amid apparent failure—and finds fulfillment in Christ, the suffering Servant.
For Catholics today, Isaiah 6:8 is a powerful invitation in prayer and discernment: - Acknowledge our sinfulness and seek the purifying grace of the sacraments. - Respond with generous availability: “Here I am, Lord” (a sentiment also captured in the beloved hymn *Here I Am, Lord* by Dan Schutte, inspired by this passage). - Offer ourselves for whatever mission God entrusts—whether in the family, workplace, parish, or global Church. As Pope St. John Paul II and others have taught, the Church needs men and women who, like Isaiah, Peter (Luke 5), and Paul, encounter the holiness of God, experience His mercy, and then say without reservation, “Send me.” This is the path to true joy and fruitfulness in the Christian life.
As a knight of the Golden Arrow, we find ourselves saying “yes Lord, yes Lord, yes Lord!” Offering ourselves, our bodies, our souls, our lives to the one and only God who gave us life, who taught us truth, and who gives us the gifts and graces we need to serve him fully. “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”