Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 16, 2020

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 19, 2020

 

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6

Psalm 40

First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 1:1-3

John 1:29-34

Last Sunday we celebrated the baptism of Jesus.  We also reflected on everything we do in the Church because of Jesus.  All our sacraments come from Jesus.  We are baptized because Jesus was baptized and commanded that all of us be baptized as well.

We heard in today’s Gospel that John the Baptist would baptize with water but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  So what is the difference between the baptism offered by John and the baptism that is offered by our Lord? 

John’s baptism was a sign of repentance, our turning from sin and moving back to God.  But John’s baptism did not bring about a change in the person by itself, although it was a sign of the person’s willingness to leave a condition of sin.  On the other hand the baptism of Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit.  When we are baptized we are profoundly changed.  The change is so great that the quality of our soul is transformed.  Baptism is not just something external, not just a ceremony and a certificate we receive on a piece of paper.  We are transformed and become a new person.  This is why the sacrament of baptism is received only once because it leaves a mark forever on our soul.  This is why baptism is the first sacrament we receive.  The sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders are the three sacraments that seal our souls forever, changing them forever, and why we receive them only once. 

So, here we are back in what the Church calls “Ordinary Time.”  It focus on the teachings and the miracles of Jesus, and the many things He did in His three year ministry that lead up to His Passion and Death.

We begin today in the Gospel of John who testifies that Jesus was the Son of God, and in the Old Testament reading is Isaiah’s prophecy of what this Son of God, the Messiah, would be like, with the emphasis on His being a “servant” to all of us.  Even our Responsorial Psalm reminds us who Jesus actually is.  He is the Son who comes only to do the will of the Father.  We hear in Psalm 40, “Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.”

Jesus is Our Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God who is able to take away the sins of the world.  This is His purpose in coming to us, and the reason He was sent by the Father.  THIS IS Jesus then, the one whom John the Baptist recognized.  He tells His followers how he saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove and remain there.  John said, “Now I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God.”

This declaration by John sets us up for Ordinary Time.  We know that Jesus is a servant who came to take away our sins, and that He is the Son of God.  In the weeks to come we will see how he goes about doing just that. 

When we come together at Holy Mass we become one community of worship.  We become visible signs to the rest of the world by what we do and how we act; just as Jesus did.  We help spread the Holy Word of God as we too become lambs of God, in the way in which we help in taking away the sins of the world.  Our good John the Baptist indeed shows us the way – as Jesus served us so we should serve Him.

Question of the Day:  Will you represent yourself to others as Jesus taught us?

Prayer:  My Jesus, strengthen me in the battle against my old self.  Let me grow more and more like you.

Prosit 

Deacon Anthony J. Cincotta

Assistant Director for Retreat Ministry