January 19^TH 2014. SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: John 1:29-34

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL John 1:29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.' John also declared, 'I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me,

"The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit".

Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading from Isaiah speaks of the servant who will be the light of the nations and will bring salvation for everyone. In the Gospel, John the Baptist points out the sacrificial lamb who will bring this salvation about. What kind of salvation is this? Why do we need a sacrificial lamb in order to achieve wholeness? Humanity suffers from an interior emptiness, an internal crisis that yearns for resolution. Just as Israel had the choice of either being annihilated or putting the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts, so too we face annihilation if we do not turn to the lamb. Every day we face the annihilation that consists in our being separated from the God of life. Can we achieve salvation by improving our social structures? By bettering out lot in life? No! The more we seek to save ourselves by external means, the more we learn that there is something within eating at our souls that can only be resolved by God. The fundamental crisis of humanity is the fact that we have been cut off from God because of our sin. That is why salvation consists in a person – the Son of God – who loves us unconditionally and takes our burden of sin on himself. This sacrificial lamb bestows on us the gift of the Holy Spirit. What is the Spirit? The power to do wonderful, inspirational things? No! The Holy Spirit is primarily given to wash our sins away and plant in our hearts the firm knowledge that we are loved by God. This is salvation – the personal love of God for each one of us.

The readings this week tell us what salvation is. Salvation is a person! Salvation is a lamb who takes our burdens on himself. Salvation is the forgiveness and love of God!

The key to interpreting the Gospel for Sunday is the Canticle of the Servant found in the first reading from Isaiah. This passage speaks of a person who was formed in the womb to be the Lord’s servant and to manifest his glory. But he is also something more than a servant. “It is not enough for you to be my servant. . . I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation might extend to the ends of the earth.” Just what is this salvation? John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, tells us what salvation consists in when he beholds the Lord Jesus. John refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God.” The most important Jewish liturgical celebration was the Passover in which the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from extermination. The extermination of the first-born at the time of the Exodus is symbolic of an extermination that faces all of humanity and each one of us on a daily basis. The real drama of the human being is the fact that we are cut off from God, the fact that we are not in full communion with our maker, the state of loneliness in which we exist. John the Baptist points out the solution to this, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” This translation does not do justice to the phrase. In Latin and in Greek the phrase is translated as saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sins of the world.”

What do we need liberation from? Can improved social structures liberate us from that which binds us? No, only God can free us from that which eats at our soul, which is our sinfulness, our state of separation from God.

Who or what is capable of taking on the disastrous situation of humanity? Can the improvement of our social structures achieve this? That is no doubt that humanity has made wonderful progress in many areas. But there is something that we cannot liberate ourselves from. The more we try to develop adequate social structures the more we discover that no structure can ever be sufficiently adequate to resolve the problem of humanity. There is a defect eating at the heart of man and it is sin. When Jesus spoke publicly about the forgiveness of sin, the scribes challenged him by stating that sin can only be pardoned by God, and they were right! Only God has the capacity to touch, illuminate, and resolve the interior tragedy of man, his vices, the irresolution of his being. This entire catastrophe consists simply in the fact of being cut off from God. And lo! Behold the Lamb of God! John the Baptist knew that the one had arrived who knows how to put all things right. Jesus is the one who enters completely into the sadness of humanity. Through the mystery of the cross this lamb will be burdened with our sins and the battle in the heart of humanity will be won. Isaiah foresaw that through this servant humanity would be liberated from its condition of darkness to behold the light of the love of God for each of us.

Jesus bestows on us the gift of the Spirit. Why are we given the Spirit? In order to do spectacular things? No! We are given the Spirit to wash away our sins and implant in our hearts the knowledge that we are loved by God.

John testifies as to how the Spirit of God rested on Jesus. The Spirit is not simply a gift that enables us to do extraordinary things. The Holy Spirit is primarily given for the forgiveness of sins, planting firmly into the heart of people that which we fundamentally lack – the joy of being loved, the joy of being forgiven. John the Baptist announces that which existed from the beginning, the pre-existence of the second person of the Blessed Trinity, who has a mission with respect to each one of us, to love us and forgive us!