January 20, 2020 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
2020년 1월 19일 연중 제2주일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
이사야서.49,3.5-6
주님께서 3 나에게 말씀하셨다.
“너는 나의 종이다. 이스라엘아, 너에게서 내 영광이 드러나리라.”
5 이제 주님께서 말씀하신다. 그분께서는 야곱을 당신께 돌아오게 하시고
이스라엘이 당신께 모여들게 하시려고
나를 모태에서부터 당신 종으로 빚어 만드셨다.
나는 주님의 눈에 소중하게 여겨졌고 나의 하느님께서 나의 힘이 되어 주셨다.
6 그분께서 말씀하신다. “네가 나의 종이 되어 야곱의 지파들을 다시 일으키고
이스라엘의 생존자들을 돌아오게 하는 것만으로는 충분하지 않다.
나의 구원이 땅끝까지 다다르도록 나는 너를 민족들의 빛으로 세운다.”
제2독서
1고린토 1,1~3
1 하느님의 뜻에 따라 그리스도 예수님의 사도로 부르심을 받은
바오로와 소스테네스 형제가
2 코린토에 있는 하느님의 교회에 인사합니다.
곧 그리스도 예수님 안에서 거룩하게 되어
다른 신자들이 사는 곳이든 우리가 사는 곳이든 어디에서나
우리 주 예수 그리스도의 이름을 받들어 부르는 모든 이들과 함께
성도로 부르심을 받은 여러분에게 인사합니다.
3 하느님 우리 아버지와 주 예수 그리스도에게서 은총과 평화가
여러분에게 내리기를 빕니다.
복음
요한.1,29-34
.그때에 29 요한은 예수님께서 자기 쪽으로 오시는 것을 보고 말하였다.
30 저분은, ‘내 뒤에 한 분이 오시는데,
내가 나기 전부터 계셨기에 나보다 앞서신 분이시다.’ 하고
내가 전에 말한 분이시다.
31 나도 저분을 알지 못하였다. 내가 와서 물로 세례를 준 것은,
저분께서 이스라엘에 알려지시게 하려는 것이었다.”
32 요한은 또 증언하였다. “나는 성령께서 비둘기처럼 하늘에서 내려오시어
저분 위에 머무르시는 것을 보았다.
33 나도 저분을 알지 못하였다.
그러나 물로 세례를 주라고 나를 보내신 그분께서 나에게 일러 주셨다.
‘성령이 내려와 어떤 분 위에 머무르는 것을 네가 볼 터인데,
바로 그분이 성령으로 세례를 주시는 분이다.’
34 과연 나는 보았다.
그래서 저분이 하느님의 아드님이시라고 내가 증언하였다.”
January 20, 2020
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
The LORD said to me: You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Reading 2
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
«There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world»
Fr. Joaquim FORTUNY i Vizcarro
(Cunit, Tarragona, Spain)
Today, when seeing Jesus, we have heard John saying «There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world» (Jn 1:29). What may all those people have thought? And, what do we think, ourselves? In the celebration of the Eucharist we all pray «Lamb of God who remove the sins of the world / have mercy on us». And the priest invites the congregation to the Communion, by saying: «There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world...».
When John said, «this is the Lamb of God» we should have no doubts they all understood what he meant, as the lamb is a metaphor of messianic character that prophets like Isaiah had already used, and it was very well known to the good Israelites.
on the other hand, the lamb is the animal Israelites sacrifice to celebrate their Passover, marking freedom for the Israelites from the Egyptian slavery. The Pasch dinner consists of eating a lamb.
And even the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church state hat the lamb is a sign of purity, simplicity, goodness, mansuetude, innocence... And Christ is Purity, Simplicity, Goodness, Mansuetude and Innocence. Saint Peter will say: «For you know that it was not with perishable things (…) but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect» (1Pet 1:18.19). And St. John, in the Revelation uses thirty times the word “lamb” to describe Christ. Jesus Christ is the lamb who takes away the sins of the world, which has been immolated to give us Grace. Let us fight to always live by Grace, to fight against sin, to hate it. The beauty Grace gives to the soul is so great that no treasure can compare with it. It makes us agreeable to God and worthy of being loved. This is why, the “Gloria” of the Mass mentions the peace of those men the Lord loves, of those who live by Grace.
John Paul II tells us, while urging us to live by the Grace the lamb has given us: «Pledge to live by the Grace. Jesus was born at Bethlehem precisely for that reason (...). To live by Grace is the supreme dignity, the ineffable joy, the guarantee of peace, the marvelous ideal».
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The depictions of Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan are many. From paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci to stained glass windows by Tiffany, the central elements are the same: Jesus and his cousin, John the Baptist, in the Jordan River with the Holy Spirit overhead as a dove. As Catholics, we enjoy the fine work of the talented artists, but it does not begin to fully convey the depth and significance of Christ’s baptism and what it truly means for us.
The word “baptize” is Greek in origin (baptizein), which means to plunge or immerse, and baptism is the first and probably the most important sacrament of the Church. It is through baptism that we are brought into the Church. It is God’s most precious gift to us, and it signifies our liberation from sin and that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
It has been said that by our own baptism we became missionary disciples of Christ and as such we need to be personally involved and actively engaged in living a faith-filled life, participating in a Christian community of faith and love. For is this not the very reason we belong to the Church, to be engaged in a community of faith and love?
I could expound upon the many benefits of baptism, but the more challenging question, one worthy of our reflection, is how are we using this precious gift? Maybe a good place for us to start is to reflect back when many of us, as parents presenting our children for baptism or as godparents, renewed our baptismal promises. These promises are as good a guidepost as any for us to continue to follow.
We might ask ourselves if, as engaged Christians, we are role models for our children. Do we worship together as a family and nurture our children to develop a strong faith? The same questions can be extended beyond our homes and families, to those with whom we interact in our workplaces and communities; do we present ourselves as engaged Christians and serve as role models?
I dare say all of us have come up short in answer to these questions, but do not despair, for our God is a loving and forgiving God. Equally as important, through our baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Through the Holy Spirt, God is personal to each of us and has the power to transform us into the people we want to be.
The gift of the Holy Spirit that God gave us at our baptism is ours to call upon when we need guidance. The Holy Spirit can help us to live the lives we are capable of – lives as engaged Christians--lives of compassion and love for members of our families as well as strangers on the street. Maybe it is time for us to “plunge” ourselves back into our faith.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
HOLINESS: THE MEANING OF LIFE | ||
| You "have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy people." �1 Corinthians 1:2 | ||
We are "called to be holy." God the Father wants His children to be, act, work, think, talk, love, and live as He does. This is the meaning of holiness: to be like God "in every aspect" of our conduct (1 Pt 1:15). Holiness is a gift from the all-holy God. only by His grace can we become holy. Holiness comes through the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit Who makes us holy. However, we must choose to accept the Spirit's gift of holiness. Without holiness, "no one can see the Lord" (Heb 12:14), that is, go to heaven. Therefore, the Lord orchestrates the events and details of our lives to give us a greater desire for holiness. He even allows us to suffer sorrows and tragedies to help us grow in holiness. In other words, He gives us some purgatory before our deaths. Moreover, holiness is so necessary that the Lord will purify after death those committed to Him and delay their entry into heaven to complete their holiness, if they are not yet "perfect in holiness" (1 Thes 5:23). However, to benefit from the Lord's organization of our lives to foster our holiness, we must trust the Lord, humbly deny ourselves, and obey Him. Then we will desire more strongly to become holy. Thus will we become holy, be pleasing to the all-holy God, and live with Him and the holy ones forever in heaven. | ||
| Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to give me love, which increases my desire for holiness. | ||
| Promise: "When you see the Spirit descend and rest on Someone, it is He Who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit." —Jn 1:33 | ||
| Praise: The risen Jesus proclaims: "I am the Root and Offspring of David, the Morning Star shining bright" (Rv 22:16). Praise You, Jesus! |
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
"Behold the Lamb of God!"
John calls Jesus the Lamb of God and thus signifies Jesus' mission as the one who redeems us from our sins. The blood of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) delivered the Israelites in Egypt from slavery and death. The Lord Jesus freely offered up his life for us on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7). The blood which he poured out for us on the cross cleanses, heals, and frees us from our slavery to sin, and from the "wages of sin which is death" (Romans 6:23) and the "destruction of both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
John points to Jesus' saving mission - to offer up his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins
It is significant that John was the son of Zachariah, a priest of Israel who participated in the daily sacrifice of a lamb in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29). John recognized that Jesus was the perfect unblemished lamb offered by the Father in heaven as the one and only sacrifice that could cancel the debt of sin, and free us from death and the destruction of body and soul in hell.
The Holy Spirit reveals who Jesus truly is - the Son of God and Savior of the world
When John says he did not know Jesus (John 1:31,33) he was referring to the hidden reality of Jesus' divinity. But the Holy Spirit in that hour revealed to John Jesus' true nature, such that John bore witness that this is the Son of God. How can we be certain that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of the living God? The Holy Spirit makes the Lord Jesus Christ known to us through the gift of faith. God gives us his Spirit as our helper and guide who opens our hearts and minds to receive and comprehend the great mystery and plan of God - to unite all things in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:10).
Do you want to grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ? Ask the Lord to pour his Holy Spirit upon you to deepen your faith, hope, and love for God and for the plan he has for your life.
"Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit and let me grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Let your Spirit be aflame in my heart that I may know and love you more fervently and strive to do your will in all things."
Psalm 98:1,3b-6
1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
3b All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: John points to Jesus' saving mission, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"No longer does John need to 'prepare the way,' since the one for whom the preparation was being made is right there before his eyes... But now he who of old was dimly pictured, the very Lamb, the spotless Sacrifice, is led to the slaughter for all, that he might drive away the sin of the world, that he might overturn the destroyer of the earth, that dying for all he might annihilate death, that he might undo the curse that is upon us... For one Lamb died for all (2 Corinthians 5:14), saving the whole flock on earth to God the Father, one for all, that he might subject all to God." (excerpt from the COMMENTARY on THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.1)
http://www.homilies.net/
2 Ordinary Time
Second Sunday of the Year - A Cycle - John 1: 29-34
An artist was working on a church roof in Werden, Germany. His safety belt snapped and he fell. The area below was filled with sharp rocks. As fate would have it, a lamb chose that moment to have its lunch of grass. He fell on the lamb. The beast was destroyed, but the artist survived. He did the decent thing. He sculptured a lamb and placed it on the roof in gratitude. It stands there to this day.
Today we come together at this Liturgy to remember and salute another Lamb. Each of us likewise owes Him much. He too gave His life for us. But with one substantial difference. Jesus voluntarily surrendered His life to save ours.
This Gospel opens just after Jesus had finished His forty day fast. He was probably bivouacing in a farmer's reed hut near the Jordan River and near John the Baptist's camp. He would soon head north into Galilee to begin His life's work. one hopes He took the time to put some pounds back on His lean frame after His fast. He had to be just skin and bones.
He had come once again to check out John the Baptist whom He would always admire. He had a premonition He would never see him again. We know He was correct.
What did John have in mind when He excitedly pointed at Jesus and shouted for all to hear, "Behold, the Lamb of God..."
The Jews at that time would feel comfortable with this interpretation.
In the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, there lived the great Jewish family of the Maccabees. The family led the Jewish opposition in Israel to their conqueror Syria and the cultural influences of the Greeks. Thanks to the family's mighty efforts, the purity of Jewish religious and political life was restored. The greatest of the family was a gentleman named Judas Maccabaeus. He was the Jewish George Washington and Abraham Lincoln all wrapped in one. The symbol of this superb general was our friend the lamb. The story is told in detail in the Books of the Maccabees of the Old Testament. Obviously John the Baptist and his Jewish audience were familiar with the Old Testament scriptures. Are you and I?
In this context, the lamb stood not for a dumb beast but a conqueror and spokesman for God. It was used also in this fashion for Messrs Samuel, David, and Solomon of Old Testament fame.
The Baptist was saluting not a passive wimp or nerd, however divine, but rather a cosmic hero. He would battle Satan and would emerge from the fray as the conqueror. John was inviting his listeners to sign up with this new Judas Maccabaeus. But this new Maccabaeus, as John tells us in verse 34 of today's Gospel, is the Son of God.
The Christians in Czechoslovakia on Nov 29, 1989 did precisely that. When Communism fell in their country on that day and the Church was once again free, they put a sign on a lawn of a Prague church. It read: THE LAMB WINS.
The Lamb entered Christian tradition not bleating but roaring. The author of of the Book of Revelation uses the term in reference to Christ twenty-nine times in twenty-two chapters. We shall speak of Jesus as the Lamb five times in today's Liturgy. See if you can spot each one. Recall the number of canvases, frescoes, stained glass windows, and vestments on which you have seen the Lamb drawn. It is among the most popular symbols in Christendom.
If the lamb, who saved the German artist's life, had taken his face out of the grass long enough to see the fellow coming down, he would have gotten out of the way ASAP. He might well have thought, "That's not my job." But the Lamb of God is something else again. He willingly laid down His life for us.
The Baptist spent most of his life out in the wilderness. Still he had been around some years in what we delicately call civilization. He was aware of the fickleness of human love. Cleverly he points out the difference between that kiss and run variety and the permanent love that his Lamb offers. He wants us to bet on a winner and avoid losers.
In this short Gospel of five verses, John e-mails us the message that Jesus is in this struggle for the long haul. He is going to stay around to hold us up and, if necessary, pick up the pieces. This week make the Carthusian monks' motto your own: "To seek God assiduously, find God promptly, and possess God fully."
Sources: Arthur Tonne, William Barclay, and Joseph Donders
Frjoeshomilies.net
2 Ordinary Time
Second Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Lamb of God
You come to Church today and you notice right away that the Christmas decorations are gone. You know where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are, don't you? No, they're not in Egypt. They're in boxes in storage.
Some of our poinsettias remain. They, particularly the red flowers, are a good reminder that the one we celebrate on Christmas gave his blood for us. As the old priest would repeat in his one line Christmas homily: "The Wood of the Manger is the Wood of the Cross."
The Christmas season is over. Now we move on with the very beginning of Jesus' public life, usually referred to as his ministry. We come upon John the Baptist seeing Jesus and pointing to him. "This is the Lamb of God," he says.
"Lamb of God." We use that term so often, that it is easy for us to overlook the deep theology and the unfathomable love of our God contained in His sending His Son to be the Lamb.
The first place we come upon the concept of the Lamb of God is in the 53rd chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Although this was written six hundred years before Jesus, it describes the feelings of God's people as they look at Jesus on the cross. It's short, so let me quote it:
It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth.
He is wounded for our sins, bruised for our iniquities. He has taken upon himself the chastisement that makes us whole. That is what John the Baptist meant when he said, "Look, there is the Lamb of God."
The question comes: why? Why did the world need a Savior? Why did God's son become a man to suffer and die for us? Did the Word have to become Flesh? Was Christmas necessary? Well, we can't tell God what is necessary or not necessary. But we can try to come to an understanding of God's plan. From the very beginning of the world, all creation was entrusted to human beings. Sadly, man, in his selfishness and self-centeredness, perverted the whole purpose for creation. Instead of glorifying God, creation was used to satisfy man's selfish needs. But, God still did not take the gift of creation away from man. A man would once more restore creation to God's original plan. Jesus Christ is this man.
Some people continue to pervert the purpose of creation. Sadly, sometimes, we join them. We become so wrapped up in ourselves that we push God aside. We turn the good things of the world into the purpose of creation, being more concerned with our selfishness than seeing God's gifts as a means of glorifying Him. As long as we live like this true love cannot not exist in the world. We cannot give ourselves to others or to another if our main concept of how to live is to take, not to give. This is the reason why for some people life is meaningless and frustrating.
Jesus came to live as the Father wants us all to live. He sacrificed himself completely for others so that we could experience sacrificial love. He called us to use creation as the Father meant creation to be used. God's plan for mankind could once more be put into effect since the Son of God became a man. Entrusted with creation, a man restores the world.
In the visions of the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelation a book is brought out sealed with seven seals. The book is God's plan for mankind. But the plan is sealed. "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?", a voice cries out." But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it. The visionary sheds many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it. But then one of the elders said, "Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals." Then the visionary saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. only the Lamb was worthy to once more restore God's plan for mankind.
And John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed, "Look, there is the Lamb of God." The one who became a man was the Lamb slain for us. His death opened up the Book of God's plan for mankind. He restored our life with God. He conquered sin.
John the Baptist also said that Jesus is the one who will baptize with he Holy Spirit." Baptized with the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power of God to transform the world. We have been given the power to create a new world, a world with a new way of living, the way of sacrificial love.
When we say or sing, "Lamb of God" we are remembering what Jesus did for us and what he has empowered us to do for others. We are remembering his sacrifice to make God's love real on earth. We are reminding ourselves that joining Jesus in sacrificial love is the only way we can be his followers.
John the Baptist found his reason for existence. He was to point out the Lamb of God to the world. His mission is the mission of every Christian. We are to point out the Lamb of God to the world. There is nothing greater that any of us can do in our lives than to reveal Christ to others, first to our children and then to all we encounter.
John the Baptist was not a typical person of his time. He was extraordinary. It really was not John's dress or diet or even his preaching that made him extraordinary, it was the fact that he found the purpose for his life. He looked to Jesus and said, "There is the Lamb of God."
Our lives can also be extraordinary. May we have the courage, like John the Baptist, to reveal Christ to the world. May we join the Baptist in saying with our lives, "Look, there is the Lamb of God."
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
2 Ordinary Time
Alexmcallister.co.uk
2 Ordinary Time
We begin the Sundays in Ordinary Time with this account from the Gospel of John of the occasion when John the Baptist points out Jesus and identifies him as the Lamb of God. The first thing we should realise is that according to the Law of Moses a lamb was sacrificed each morning and evening in the Temple in expiation for the sins of the people.
Also, on the feast of Passover each family sacrificed a lamb and eat its meat in a sacrificial meal. This meal called to mind the meal the People of Israel eat on the night of the first Passover when they were rescued by God from slavery in Egypt. We can see that there is a strong connection with sin, since sin is a form of slavery and is definitely something that we need rescuing from.
So, when John the Baptist said 'Look there is the Lamb of God' the people would have had understood that he was making an explicit link with the hundreds of lambs sacrificed for sin in the Temple and also the many more lambs sacrificed on the night of the Passover Feast. It becomes clear then that John is pointing out that Jesus is the one who is coming to free the people from their sins.
Of course, all those lambs sacrificed in the Temple did not free the people from any actual sins. only God can forgive sin and so it had to be God who seeing the sacrifices that were being offered exercised his mercy and forgave the people their sins. But, as we now know, all these sacrificial lambs were merely foreshadowing Jesus who is the real Lamb of God and who by his sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary would really and definitively expunge all our sins past, present and future.
It is no mistake then that the death of Jesus occurred at Passover time. Nor was it any surprise that at the moment of his death the veil of the Temple was torn in two as a sign that from then on men should turn to Christ and see him as their one true Saviour.
We begin these Sundays of Ordinary Time examining the very beginning of Jesus' public ministry but we do so with an eye on the end of the story. We see from the outset that Jesus is the Lamb of God and that his principal task is to take away the sins of the world. This is the reason he has come among us; this is his true purpose; this is something in which the whole world can rejoice.
In the text John the Baptist says twice that he did not know Jesus. We have to take this with a pinch of salt. We know from the accounts in St Luke's Gospel that John the Baptist certainly knew Jesus, indeed that he was his cousin and only six months younger than John. So we cannot and should not take these particular words of St John literally.
According to me, what John the Baptist means is that he did not know that Jesus was the Messiah. John instantly recognises who Jesus is when he walks towards him on that glorious day. He already knew he was Jesus of Nazareth but at that particular moment he had a revelation or an inner recognition that Jesus was in fact the one who had come from God to save us from our sins.
He then does the thing that he was destined to do, the one thing that for his whole life he had been preparing, he identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God. So important is this incident that the Church explicitly refers to it every time we celebrate the Eucharist when the priest holds up the host and the chalice and says, 'Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb.'
Christianity is an historical religion, we deal in real and actual historical events, real physical people situated in a particular time or place. This is not so with other religions that rely heavily on myth and allegories. The events in the Gospel reading today actually happened, on that blessed day, Jesus walked towards John who recognised him and proclaimed to the crowd just who Jesus was. This is specific, it is real, it actually happened. And Christians down through the ages return over and over again to the specific events of the life of Christ to learn more about him and also to learn how to live out the beliefs and tenets of Christianity in their own day.
This is what Paul is on about in his letters, such as the one given to us today written to the Corinthians; he wants them to come to a realisation of what is required of a Christian who is living in another place or another era than that of Christ himself.
That our religion is based on actual facts on specific occurrences and real people living in history tells us that the events of our everyday life are vitally important. Ours is not an otherworldly religion; it is not based on myths and legends. No, it is historical and factual and it is all about the real world in which we live.
As Christians we regard time itself as sacred. We are living in what we might call redeemed time, because of our salvation all time has been made holy. We commemorate this through the sacred liturgy which marks time off with its recurring feasts and seasons. The liturgy helps us to realise that the time in which we live is sacred and blessed because it is the place in which we live out our Christian lives, it is the milieu in which we work through our struggles with evil and by the frequent use of the sacraments come ever closer to God.
Moreover, what happens to us each day is part of the unfolding history of Christianity. The challenges we face, the threats to our faith and how we overcome them, all these things are part of a much wider picture which is that of the growth of the reign of Christ in the world. Like Paul we too are called to be Apostles, to be Christ's servants in the world in which we live. Like John the Baptist it is our task too to point out to those around us just who Jesus is.
It is not sufficient that the people among who we live know that a man called Jesus lived his life two thousand years ago. No, they need to be aware that he is indeed the Lamb of God, the one true Saviour of the World. This is our task; this is the role we have been given by Christ –to make him known. And we are to convey not just that he existed but precisely who he is, that he is the Son of God, that he is our Saviour, that he loves us and wants us to live with him for all eternity in heaven.
This is indeed Good News and it deserves to be heard by every single person in the world.
More Homilies
