Reflections for 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

I am the witness that Jesus is the chosen one of God

Isaiah 49:3.5-6. Psalm 39:2. 4. 7-10. Rv.8.9. 1Cor 1:1-3.

I will make you the light of the nations.

My God I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.

I, Paul, send greetings to the holy people of Jesus Christ.

I have seen and I am the witness that Jesus is the Chosen One of God

John 1: 29-34

Gospel

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

 

Be a disciple and follow the Master.

We are at the beginning of Ordinary Time. It is ‘ordinary’ only when compared with ‘Advent’, ‘Christmas’, ‘Lent’ and ‘Easter’ which are special times.  It is in fact very special.

Jesus promised to remain with us till the end of time. He didn’t come just for the people of Palestine. He is here for the people of every generation and country. He is here now for you and me. He is present too in many ways. Every Sunday believers gather to celebrate his presence. Sunday is the day when he destroyed death and returned to his disciples. Every Sunday he wants to stand in the midst of his disciples wherever they are gathered. He speaks to them through his Word and he feeds them with the bread of life and gives them his joy.

            John pointed Jesus out to his disciples and the Church points him out to us now. Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world and our sin too. Sin is a sickness and there are many wounds of sin in us. But we are not doomed. Jesus is here precisely to take away sin. His mission statement is clear: ‘I have come to search out and save the lost’. It is not the healthy who need the doctor but the sick, he said. Jesus is the good physician.

            He wants to take away our sin and heal the wounds of sin. Since we are free persons he cannot do anything for us until we approach him. The gift of freedom is not a joke. He longs to make us whole but will not violate our free choice. I must decide to come to Jesus. At the beginning of the ordinary Sundays we need to make the choice to join the group of his disciples who follow him week by week throughout the year.

 Let us listen each week to what he tells us. “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah as at Massah in the desert” (Psalm 95). There are many ways of hardening our hearts. It isn’t enough to hear the Word of God read in the church during the Eucharist. We need to cultivate the Word, as we would flowers in our garden. We need to read and meditate on it ourselves and allow Jesus to speak to our hearts. Then the Word we hear in the assembly will come alive and be active in us. The food of life given to us in the Holy Eucharist will renew our strength to live the Christian life and we will receive joy as we meet Jesus in our brothers and sisters in the community. 

Father, as we begin our walk with your Son through the Sundays of the year, grant that we may follow him and be his disciples