January 15th 2023. 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 homily follows the Gospel

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

 

1. It is Christ who comes towards us, not we who go to him. He takes the initiative. Our task is to be open to his arrival.

After the Baptism of our Lord, we enter into Ordinary Time in which each Sunday has a different Gospel and the mystery of Christ is looked at from many different points of view. The testimony of John the Baptist introduces us into this new period of the year. John the Baptist is the prototype of the proclamation of Christ and what he has to say is relevant for our journey through Lent and towards living the mystery of Easter. Firstly, John sees Christ coming towards him. It is Christ who comes to us, not we who go to him. Advent is about the coming of Christ. Our task is to welcome him, to be open to the work of God in our lives.

 

2. God does not wipe away our sin, but takes it upon himself

Secondly, John says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”. The lamb was the one whose blood enabled Israel to escape extermination in Egypt. The expression “takes away the sin of the world” in the original Greek actually means to “take upon himself the sins of the world”. Jesus is the one who allows the entire weight of sin to fall upon him. If we look at the state of pollution of the world, we ask how it can all be taken away. In a more profound sense, the world is polluted by sin. War, for example, leads to greater and greater anger and greater multiplication of evil. How can humanity deal with this toxic inundation of sin? The original term for “sin” meant to miss the target, to search for life in the wrong place. Sin destroys our youth, our maturity, our relationships, leaving internal marks that seem indelible. How can humanity respond to it? Christianity proclaims that this wave of sin can be taken away, that the pathway to destruction can be converted into a new pathway of beauty. We announce that humanity can be liberated form sin and can live a new existence.

 

3. We must proclaim Christ, not get bogged down in our own projects. We must enter into an enduring and stable relationship with the Holy Spirit, not an occasional one.

Thirdly, John the Baptist announces that Christ has precedence over him and is much greater than him. Too often in the Church we are bogged down in our ecclesial matters. We need to proclaim him and trust that he can bring good from our weakness and contradictions. Fourthly, John testifies that he saw the Spirit come down and remain upon Jesus. What we need is a stable and enduring relationship with the Spirit. Jesus shows us what a human life looks like when it is lived in full cooperation with the Spirit – the life of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit is not someone to have a relationship with every now and then, whenever we have an inspiration or an interior illumination. No, we must live with Christ constantly. A marriage is not something that is occasionally lived in a heavenly manner. It must be lived constantly in this way. This is the power of baptism, which means to be “immersed” in the Holy Spirit. When we live in the conviction that the Lord has taken upon himself our sin, then we can live constantly with the trust that the Holy Spirit can guide every aspect of our lives. This is the marvellous proclamation of Christianity that we can live in every liturgy of this year.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

John’s Gospel says something surprising: we are told that the testimony of John the Baptist is necessary for each one of us if we are to have correct faith in Christ. What does the Baptist say? He points to Jesus and says, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. This is a crucial testimony concerning the identity of Jesus. However, the translation “takes away” is not so good. The original Greek really says “takes upon himself the sins of the world”. Jesus takes our sins upon himself. This is so essential. Humanity is not able to deal with sin. Psychology and counselling can only do so much. They cannot remove the guilt of sin. What Jesus does is forgive us and bear the weight of our sins completely. My sinful and toxic past is thus transformed! What was once a history of error and weakness now becomes a history of how much God has loved me and shown his mercy towards me despite my faults!