Homily – January 19, 2014 (Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - A)
Readings: Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6; Ps. 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3; John 1: 29-34
First of all, from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of my wife Karen, our girls Michelle and Megan, and my mother Terry, THANK YOU for the years of prayer and support, and the excitement you've given us, as we enter this new phase of our lives! It's truly a blessing to walk this journey with you! Welcome to Ordinary Time, where I will always contend there is nothing ordinary about it. Today, we walk through the Word of God, and enter this New Year knowing that we are all CALLED by God in our ordinary lives, to shine His extraordinary love for the entire world to see. bI would like to invite us to consider three important elements of the faith that we have been Baptized into: PRAYING, ACTING & POINTING.
FIRST - PRAYING! Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman offered this prayer to strengthen our spirits in the face of this call: “Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.” Today’s first reading from Isaiah reminds us that God will make you and I, and this Church a light to the nations, so that His loving salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49: 3, 6) Cardinal Newman’s prayer takes on the same feel as his prayer continues, “Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!” St. Paul in today’s second reading, prayed for the Church, “you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon [His] name” (1 Corinthians 1: 2-3) We should pray each day for the same…
NEXT - ACTING! Last week we celebrated the Lord’s baptism, and were asked to remember our own, as God’s voice introduced us all to “His beloved son with whom [He is] well pleased, (Matthew 3:17). We now open Ordinary Time with a chance to reflect on how we can truly live and share the light of Christ, and for all to see. Today we have heard from the Gospel of John, but for what it is worth, we’ll actually be reflecting mostly on the Gospel of Matthew in the upcoming year. Matthew will be a great source for us, as the TEACHINGS of Christ will take center stage in our weekly Sunday worship. But today, we begin Ordinary Time with John’s Gospel so we can reflect on the “SIGNS” of our faith. John’s Gospel is all about showing us HOW to enter “The Way”; that is, the faith journey that Christ offers us. It introduces us to Truth, but it calls us to EXPERIENCE that Truth in a life with the Christ who actually dwells among us. St. John the Baptist in the Gospel of John offers us a prologue for the year and frankly a prologue for our entire life yet to come. Last week’s Gospel from Matthew shared Jesus’s Baptism with us, and witnessed the introduction of Christ as announced by God Himself. The Gospel of John today also identifies Jesus, and does so within the PRAYER of His Baptism, but it introduces us to Him with the added challenge that in our faith we TEACH and LEARN BY DOING. Jesus, as The Baptist would say, is the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He tells us exactly who Christ is, and what He is there to DO! Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus is also seen as the “Good Shepherd”. Who is He and what does He do? Pope Francis recently reminded us that like the good shepherd, Christ does not just know his sheep, He knows “the smell of his sheep”, giving us the reassurance that, not only does he truly know us, but he is ALWAYS WITH US, always feeding us, always teaching us, always watching us, and always loving us. So in the weeks and months to come, it is important to know that as we reflect on the teachings of Christ, we must PRAY and ACT on all that we learn!
FINALLY - POINTING! St. John the Baptist takes it all one step further… Our PRAYER and ACTION should have a COMMON PURPOSE, as BOTH should POINT to the Lord! John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…” This is the model for OUR OWN baptized lives, as we too should be identified as POINTING to Christ in everything that we do! It is our mission as disciples to say to our neighbor, “behold”, that’s Him! THAT’S JESUS! HE HEALS US… HE SAVES US… HE FEEDS US NOW AND FOREVER MORE! John goes on to say that, “I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” (John 1: 29, 31)… John the Baptist knew his place in the kingdom before he encountered Christ at the Jordan. He knew that he was not the messiah. You and I are the same. Our journey began a long time ago with our own baptism. We know that we are not God, but that we are God’s people. We know that we need a savior. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, our brother, our judge, and saving grace. “Behold the Lamb of God!” He can truly be in our lives, teaching us and urging us forth on a faith journey rooted in PRAYER and ACTION so that, as John the Baptist put it, “he might be made known to Israel.” We PRAY, we LEARN, we ACT, and we POINT to Christ so that he might be known to all!
PRAYING, ACTING and POINTING! Now tomorrow we begin another week in “Ordinary Time”, and it includes two extraordinary opportunities to see today’s Gospel at work in our ordinary lives. Monday is our national holiday commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which offers us more than just a day off… Dr. King prayed, acted and pointed to Christ, who was truly the source of all his faith, work and efforts. He dared to ask his country to look at the Law of God, and consider how that Law could influence the law of our land! He pointed to his faith, and brought this nation closer to justice, and closer to the kind of people that we are supposed to be! But there’s still much to do, for the words of the Profit Amos that are chiseled on the black granite wall of the King Memorial in Montgomery say, “Until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” So we continue to pray, act and point together… I invite you on Monday to start the day with us as we gather for Mass at 9:00am here in the Church. Meanwhile, this week, millions across the nation will gather in churches and at rallies to support the legal protection of unborn children. The Holy Church calls Wednesday a Day of Prayer. We’ll have Masses at 6:00am, 8:30am or 6:30pm, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Day Chapel all day long until Midnight. I invite you to pray with us. The question of what actions should follow continues to be played out by many faithful and courageous people, as they serve, pointing to Christ within the beating hearts of the innocent unborn, hurting mothers, the poor, the sick, the homeless and the imprisoned, especially those on death row, as we are all dependent on the loving protection, and healing mercy of God.
So whatever your plans or availability may be, enter this week, this year and this seemingly ordinary time of life, ready to pray, act and point together BEHOLDING the Christ who loves us all. Identify the fragrance of new life and new hope by proclaiming that, “He is the Way, the Truth and the Light for a world who desperately needs it.” But before you do anything, come to THIS table and embrace His real presence among us, and share in this supper with the faith of today’s Psalmist, who simply prays, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” (Psalm 40, 8a, 9a).
FIRST - PRAYING! Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman offered this prayer to strengthen our spirits in the face of this call: “Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.” Today’s first reading from Isaiah reminds us that God will make you and I, and this Church a light to the nations, so that His loving salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49: 3, 6) Cardinal Newman’s prayer takes on the same feel as his prayer continues, “Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!” St. Paul in today’s second reading, prayed for the Church, “you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon [His] name” (1 Corinthians 1: 2-3) We should pray each day for the same…
NEXT - ACTING! Last week we celebrated the Lord’s baptism, and were asked to remember our own, as God’s voice introduced us all to “His beloved son with whom [He is] well pleased, (Matthew 3:17). We now open Ordinary Time with a chance to reflect on how we can truly live and share the light of Christ, and for all to see. Today we have heard from the Gospel of John, but for what it is worth, we’ll actually be reflecting mostly on the Gospel of Matthew in the upcoming year. Matthew will be a great source for us, as the TEACHINGS of Christ will take center stage in our weekly Sunday worship. But today, we begin Ordinary Time with John’s Gospel so we can reflect on the “SIGNS” of our faith. John’s Gospel is all about showing us HOW to enter “The Way”; that is, the faith journey that Christ offers us. It introduces us to Truth, but it calls us to EXPERIENCE that Truth in a life with the Christ who actually dwells among us. St. John the Baptist in the Gospel of John offers us a prologue for the year and frankly a prologue for our entire life yet to come. Last week’s Gospel from Matthew shared Jesus’s Baptism with us, and witnessed the introduction of Christ as announced by God Himself. The Gospel of John today also identifies Jesus, and does so within the PRAYER of His Baptism, but it introduces us to Him with the added challenge that in our faith we TEACH and LEARN BY DOING. Jesus, as The Baptist would say, is the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He tells us exactly who Christ is, and what He is there to DO! Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus is also seen as the “Good Shepherd”. Who is He and what does He do? Pope Francis recently reminded us that like the good shepherd, Christ does not just know his sheep, He knows “the smell of his sheep”, giving us the reassurance that, not only does he truly know us, but he is ALWAYS WITH US, always feeding us, always teaching us, always watching us, and always loving us. So in the weeks and months to come, it is important to know that as we reflect on the teachings of Christ, we must PRAY and ACT on all that we learn!
FINALLY - POINTING! St. John the Baptist takes it all one step further… Our PRAYER and ACTION should have a COMMON PURPOSE, as BOTH should POINT to the Lord! John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…” This is the model for OUR OWN baptized lives, as we too should be identified as POINTING to Christ in everything that we do! It is our mission as disciples to say to our neighbor, “behold”, that’s Him! THAT’S JESUS! HE HEALS US… HE SAVES US… HE FEEDS US NOW AND FOREVER MORE! John goes on to say that, “I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” (John 1: 29, 31)… John the Baptist knew his place in the kingdom before he encountered Christ at the Jordan. He knew that he was not the messiah. You and I are the same. Our journey began a long time ago with our own baptism. We know that we are not God, but that we are God’s people. We know that we need a savior. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, our brother, our judge, and saving grace. “Behold the Lamb of God!” He can truly be in our lives, teaching us and urging us forth on a faith journey rooted in PRAYER and ACTION so that, as John the Baptist put it, “he might be made known to Israel.” We PRAY, we LEARN, we ACT, and we POINT to Christ so that he might be known to all!
PRAYING, ACTING and POINTING! Now tomorrow we begin another week in “Ordinary Time”, and it includes two extraordinary opportunities to see today’s Gospel at work in our ordinary lives. Monday is our national holiday commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which offers us more than just a day off… Dr. King prayed, acted and pointed to Christ, who was truly the source of all his faith, work and efforts. He dared to ask his country to look at the Law of God, and consider how that Law could influence the law of our land! He pointed to his faith, and brought this nation closer to justice, and closer to the kind of people that we are supposed to be! But there’s still much to do, for the words of the Profit Amos that are chiseled on the black granite wall of the King Memorial in Montgomery say, “Until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” So we continue to pray, act and point together… I invite you on Monday to start the day with us as we gather for Mass at 9:00am here in the Church. Meanwhile, this week, millions across the nation will gather in churches and at rallies to support the legal protection of unborn children. The Holy Church calls Wednesday a Day of Prayer. We’ll have Masses at 6:00am, 8:30am or 6:30pm, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Day Chapel all day long until Midnight. I invite you to pray with us. The question of what actions should follow continues to be played out by many faithful and courageous people, as they serve, pointing to Christ within the beating hearts of the innocent unborn, hurting mothers, the poor, the sick, the homeless and the imprisoned, especially those on death row, as we are all dependent on the loving protection, and healing mercy of God.
So whatever your plans or availability may be, enter this week, this year and this seemingly ordinary time of life, ready to pray, act and point together BEHOLDING the Christ who loves us all. Identify the fragrance of new life and new hope by proclaiming that, “He is the Way, the Truth and the Light for a world who desperately needs it.” But before you do anything, come to THIS table and embrace His real presence among us, and share in this supper with the faith of today’s Psalmist, who simply prays, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” (Psalm 40, 8a, 9a).
Have a great Ordinary Time, and an extraordinary year!
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