Pastor's Message

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

"The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World. He is the One upon whom the Spirit descended; He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.”   John  1.29-34

         Last Sunday, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, a defining moment in the Life of Jesus, who appeared in public after 30 years in the silence of his home in Nazareth. With his Baptism, Jesus revealed that he was the Fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1-2. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon Him, He will bring forth Justice to the Nations;”

         After Baptism, we read, Jesus was revealed to us, not by the Angels as in the case of the Shepherd at Christmas Night, and not by the Star as in the case of the Magi, at Epiphany, but by the Voice of God, the Father; “This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus, in his Baptism, accepted his Mission. This was well put but Pope Benedict XVI, in his Book, Jesus of Nazareth, when he wrote; “He loaded the burden of all human guilt upon his shoulders … in anticipation of the Cross.”

        In today’s Gospel, this second Sunday of the Church year, Jesus is revealed, in the testimony of the One who was to be his earthly proclaimer according to prophecy; John the Baptist. John had spent his youth and early adulthood, living as a hermit in the desert of Judah. His style of life and preaching had many thinks, that he was the Messiah, which he strongly denied; exalting the one who was to come after Him; “I am not even worthy to be lowest slave; I am not worthy to untie his shoes.”

        The Jews were getting more and more impatient with John, so they raised the questions; “who are you?” “Then are you, Elijah?” “Are you the Prophet?” “What have you to say about yourself because we must take an answer to those who sent us?”

        John responded; “I am, as Isaiah prophesied; a voice of one that cries in the desert: prepare a way for the Lord!”

        The Jews were not satisfied with this, so they asked Him; “Why are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah and not the Prophet?”

         He responded; “I baptize with water; but standing among you- unknown to you- is the one who is coming after me!”

         In the Gospel today, John completes his Mission; He revealed to Israel, the Savior, Jesus, who, according to Prophecy was; “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World. He is the One upon whom the Spirit descended; He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

        Jesus is the Lamb of God. The Lamb associated with Isaiah’s suffering servant. He is the lamb that leads the flock of God’s people; the Passover Lamb, that saved God’s People. This Lamb was the core of the sacrificial rites of communion, that brought about reconciliation after sin of Adam and Eve and re-established the union of God and His Peoples. What this means is that, the traditional way of gaining pardon and communion had been elevated through this Lamb of God; who is the one through whom God entered the human history, concretely, offering it reconciliation with Him.

         We are blessed indeed, because we believe in Jesus, the Son of God, whose intimacy with the Father enables us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire.

         Sisters and Brothers, in the Mass today as always, the priest raises the consecrated host and wine and repeats the words of John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world;” This is a proclamation of Faith in the One who lives among us. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may lead us deeper to the experience of being “beloved sons and daughters of God.

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