II Sunday in Ordinary Time :1Sam 3:3-10,
19; 1Cori 6: 13-20; Jn 1: 35-42
Introduction: The main theme of today’s scripture readings is divine vocation
– that everyone is called by God to be a witness for Christ by doing something
for others with his or her life, using his or her unique gifts and blessings.
Hence, today’s readings remind us of our personal and corporate call to become
witnesses for Jesus, the Lamb of God, by leading lives of holiness
and purity.
Scripture lessons: The first reading describes
how Yahweh called Samuel to His service and how the boy Samuel responded to
Him, saying, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” Hence, God
blessed him in the mission entrusted to him, and Samuel became an illustrious
figure, ranking with Moses and David as a man of God. In the responsorial
psalm, the psalmist sings, “Behold, I come to do Your will,” indicating that his
vocation is to obey, to do what God commands him to do. In the second
reading, St. Paul
explains to the Corinthians that their divine call is a call to holiness.
Hence, they need to keep their bodies pure and souls holy because by
baptism they have become parts of Christ’s body and the temples of the Holy
Spirit. In the gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to two of
his disciples as the “Lamb of God,” suggesting Jesus’ vocation to become
a sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins. The disciples followed Jesus to his
residence, accepting his invitation to “come and see.” They stayed
with him that day. Then Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus,
introducing Jesus to him as the Messiah. Thus, today’s gospel
describes also the call or vocation of the first apostles and challenges us to
invite others to Christ by our Christian witnessing.
Joke 1) The son-in-law’s testimony: A
rich Jewish business man named Raymond went to meet Ben, his new son-in-law to
be. He said to Ben, "So, tell me, Ben, my boy, what you do?"
"I study the Theology," Ben replied. "But Ben, you are
going to marry my daughter! How are you going to feed and house her?" “No
problem," says Ben, "I study Theology, and it says God will
provide." "But you will have children; how will you educate
them?" asked Raymond. "No problem," says Ben, "I study
Theology, and it says God will provide." When Raymond returned home, his
wife anxiously asked him what Ben was like. "Well," said
Raymond, "he's a lovely boy. I only just met him, and he already thinks
I'm God."
Anecdote: At the beginning of Advent we received a
beautiful gift: the new English translation of the Roman Missal. Many of my
priest friends - especially the younger ones - have commented on how much they
appreciate this new translation. One of
the parts I particularly like is the invitation to Communion. The priest holds
up the Host and says, "Behold the Lamb of God..." We hear these same
words in today's Gospel. John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims to Andrew,
"Behold the Lamb of God."
Exegesis : To understand John's exclamation we need
to know some of the Old Testament background. Each year the Jewish priests led
a lamb - a year-old male lamb with no blemish - to the high altar. They placed
the gentle animal's head on the stone and with knife opened its throat. The
lamb's blood flowed on the altar. The priest took some of the blood and
sprinkled it on the people. It brought forgiveness of sins.
When John called
Jesus the Lamb of God, he was saying a lot. Jesus is gentle and like a lamb,
submissive to the will of his Father. In obedience to his Father, he would
offer his life on the altar of the cross. He would make a sacrifice so complete
that it would not need repetition. As the letter to the Hebrews says, it would
be "once and for all."
It is
interesting to understand that normally the parish church is built at the
center of the parish. And the people built
their own monuments and houses around the church, keeping the Holy Eucharist in
the church at the center, remembering the feast of tent in the Old Testament.
Houses where the parishners live in become the places where they offered
sacrifices in life. To offer sacrifice is a natural part of religions
everywhere.
Jesus brings to
perfection the sacrifices, not only of the Jewish people, but of all who
recognize the need for a divine power. If we have in our hearts anything like
the Jewish people - or the peoples of America - we would thrill to hear
John's exclamation: Behold the Lamb of God.
Life messages: 1) Our Christian vocation is to live and die like the Lamb
of God. (A) We live like the Lamb of God: 1)
by leading pure, innocent, humble, selfless lives, obeying Christ’s
commandment of love. 2) by appreciating
the loving providence and protecting care of the Good Shepherd in his
Church. 3) by partaking of the
body and blood of the Good Shepherd in the Holy Eucharist and deriving
spiritual strength from his Holy Spirit through prayer and the
sacraments. (B) We are called to die like the Lamb of
God: a) by sharing sacrificially our blessings of health, wealth and
talents with others in the family, parish and community; b) by bearing witness
to Christ in our illness, pain and suffering by our graceful acceptance of
suffering c) by offering our sufferings for God’s glory, as penance for our
sins and for the conversion of sinners.
Introduction : Introduction : II
Sunday in Ordinary time
Message :
Through the baptism we have been joined
to the Lord who calls us to be his disciples.
How well do we listen to his voice? How willing are we to do his will?
The week of prayer for Christian unity begins
Wednesday, 18 January(USA).
16th Monday: The birth of
Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated in USA.
Saints in this week : 17th
Tuesday: Saint Anthony, abbot : Anthony or Antony, 356 at age 105; born in upper Egypt;
hermit and early founder of religious life; called the “Patriarch on Monks”;
aided Athanasius of Alexandria in combating Arianism
20th Friday: Saint
Fabian, pope, martyr; Saint Sebastian, martyr : Fabian,
250 under Decius; layman elected bishop of Rome in 236; an “incomparable man, the glory
of whose death corresponded with the holiness of his life”(St.Cyprian to Pope
St.Cornelius); His body came to be transferred from the catacombs of Callistus
to the basilica of St. Sebastian.
St.Sebastian, 288? At Rome
under Diocletian: chief of the Praetorian cohort whose acta tell of his being pierced by arrows, later being clubbed to
death; patron of archers, soldiers, and police associations.
21st Saturday: Saint Agnes,
virgin, martyr : Agnes, beginning of
4th c. under Diocletian at the age of twelve(so Augustine and
Ambrose report); patroness of Christian virtue confronted by political and
social violence; represented with a martyr’s palm and a lamb (her name in Latin
[agnus] = lamb); the wool from two
lambs blessed today will be used to make the pallia which are presented by the
pope to metropolitans on 29 June; name mentioned in the Roman Canon.
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