January 19, 2014

Bulletin January 19, 2014

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34
What comes before today’s passage from Isaiah is that the Israelite’s exile in Babylon is over. That great empire is in decline; it is time for God’s chosen people to return because God has important plans for them. AND I think and reflect on what plans does God have for me? So very often in my life I have not even reflected on this: why does God have plans for me...I am just an insignificant clog in the wheel. NOW I cannot maintain that belief if I take some serious time and reflect on today’s message. Even when I just take the words out of context they have an important meaning. Isaiah says, “The Lord, said to me: You are my servant...through whom I whom I show My glory. Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as His servant from the womb...and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord and my God is now my strength...I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” The reading identifies the ‘Ideal Servant’ with the ideal personification of an obedient and faithful Israel who will become a light to the nations. This servant or perhaps the futuristic Messiah will show the WAY...God’s way...the way out of the darkness of sin and ignorance. It’s hard for me to envision that “I am to be a light to the nations.”‘ But I look at the number of people who have been ‘my light’: encouraging me...giving me confidence...telling me not to give up...telling me that the gifts I have been given are the only gifts I need to help others. These countless ones have touched me and continue to direct me to God’s message in the Scriptures. I cannot in any way from any part of the Old or New Testament see that my life is insignificant. Jesus continually reaffirmed and honored every person He was with; He showed total love and in His teaching said that every person is to be love. So my love is an important part of God’s plan and a necessary part because if I do not give it...someone is lacking in love.
Paul confirmed this when he told the Corinthians today that it was his firm conviction that he was called to be an apostle. And he said that the church of Corinth, the people were called to be holy because of their status as members of the body of Christ. It was evident that the different factions among the Corinthians had forgotten that. Paul said that each peoples is: “called to be holy.” That certainly seems to be an impossible task but it is the constant call from God. There is no way that Paul or Jesus said that I will arrive at a point in my life that I am holy...I must work on it each day. Which means I try...I grow...I fall...I pick myself up...I continue on...I ask for help...I get discouraged...I fail...God touches me Himself or through others...I continue on...ALL the time feeling that I’m ‘not making it.’ The bottom line is that I will never know until I get to heaven how God has worked through my inadequacies to touch others with the love God knew they needed at that time which was His love delivered through me. This is what it means to be Christ...As Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday readings says: “What does it mean to be Christ? It’s not about telling people what to do or how to behave. It’s about showing compassion, being a healing presence, forgiving trespassers, and feeding the hungry. Sometimes it means being a truth-teller, but stories and personal example work better than condemnation and criticism. Being Christ for others also involves sacrifice, and it can even mean laying down your life for a friend. Every time we receive communion, we are renewing our pledge to share Christ life in these ways.”

In the Gospel, John presents John the Baptist’s encounter with Jesus. He says that he doesn’t know Jesus until a divine sign shows Jesus’ identity. He sees the Spirit come down like a dove and rest on Jesus confirming what John had been told by the Holy Spirit. He calls Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”

These beautiful words invite us to Communion each time we come to the Eucharist and we respond: Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
God is the one who has called each person...God is the one who has chosen each person...God is the one who has gifted each person with the gifts necessary for them to touch the people God has placed in their lives...God is the one who continues to pick me up and everyone when we are so down on ourselves that we are unaware of God and instead too aware of our ‘unworthiness’, which is never from God....Unworthiness and love do not compute together.
St. Cyril of Alexandria who died in 444 wrote a commentary of St. John’s Gospel that receiving the Eucharist makes us well fortified spiritually: “He will deliver us from corruptibility foreign to our nature; He will secure eternal life for us, reconcile us with God, teach us to revere God and to live upright lives, and be our way to the kingdom of heaven.” Do I allow God to do this for me?
So I reflect on:

• “How should I live my life differently if I believe that Jesus has taken my sins away?”
  
• What challenges do I face at this point in my life? Do I ask for help?
  
• What blessings have come to me as a result of my saying ‘yes’ to God’s call?
  
• Isaiah, Paul, John the Baptist all responded to God’s call to be a witness. The Psalm response today is from Psalm 40: “Here I am Lord; I come to do Your will.” Do I understand what I am saying? Do I ask daily for help in being God’s servant?
  

Sacred Space 2014 offers this advice:

“Although he prepared the way for Jesus, John acknowledges that he did not know who to expect. As I do my best, in my way, to prepare the way for Jesus, I cannot always know just what to be ready for.

John remained active and vigilant. I pray that I may keep occupied in God’s service without letting my occupations overwhelm me.”

Prayer: “Jesus, You Yourself were baptized at the beginning of Your ministry. I know that my role, as a result of baptism, is to carry out your ministry. Help me to live a life of service to others, and to follow Your example in all I say and do. Amen.”