{"id":2012,"date":"2017-01-15T09:35:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T14:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2017-01-15T12:39:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T17:39:48","slug":"2nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/2nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

2nd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A<\/a>
\nIsaiah 49:3, 5-6
\nPsalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
\n1 Corinthians 1:1-3
\nJohn 1:29-34
\nJanuary 15, 2017<\/p>\n

Our first reading today is part of what are known as four \u201cSuffering Servant Oracles\u201d in the Book of Isaiah. \u00a0These oracles speak of the role of the servant of the Lord and, at times, how the servant will suffer.<\/p>\n

The question can be who this servant is.\u00a0 The biblical scholars see different possibilities.\u00a0 Some say it is Isaiah himself.\u00a0 Others say it is the people of Israel as a whole, as evidenced in today\u2019s passage that names Israel.\u00a0 For us as Christians, it is Jesus who is the ultimate fulfillment of these oracles.\u00a0 In his passion He suffers much for us as He is beaten, scourged, and crucified.\u00a0 He brings us light by showing that God is triumph even over death and will raise us up in the resurrection.<\/p>\n

I personally believe that Jesus is the ultimate<\/em> fulfillment of the Suffering Servant Oracles but that each of us as individuals and collectively as a church are to play a part in being the servant.<\/p>\n

For instance, the servant is the one through whom the Lord reveals his glory.\u00a0 God\u2019s glory can be known when we share with others the good things that God has done for us.<\/p>\n

The servant is the one formed by the Lord in the womb.\u00a0 Jesus was conceived in Mary\u2019s womb by the power of the Most High. \u00a0God is our creator and knows us even before we are conceived in our woman\u2019s womb and God gives us a soul.<\/p>\n

We can serve as servants by sharing the \u201clight to the nations<\/em>\u201d of the salvation that Jesus brings \u201cto the ends of the earth.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 We need to point others to Jesus just as John the Baptist did when he pointed to Jesus and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

These words of John the Baptist should be very familiar to us.\u00a0 They are the origin of the words spoken by the priest at Communion \u201cBehold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world, blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.\u201d<\/p>\n

John was pointing to the human Jesus passing by.\u00a0 The priest is pointing to Jesus presence in the bread and wine that have become the Body and Blood of Jesus.<\/p>\n

God has called each of us to be his servants, each in our own way.\u00a0 To be his servants, we need to realize that \u201cGod is now my strength.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 We receive this strength in the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

I have no doubt that God will give us what we need as individuals and as a parish to accomplish what He asks of us.\u00a0 The challenge can be for us to figure out what God asks of us.<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge is that we often think about it in terms of what we are supposed to do<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Serving God is not just a matter of what we \u201cdo<\/em><\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 It is a matter of \u201cbeing<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think of it this way.\u00a0 I stand before you as a priest.\u00a0 We could talk about the various duties I fulfill.\u00a0 Today I want to center on what it means to preside at Mass.<\/p>\n

At Mass, I do most of the talking.\u00a0 Now, if you look at the two books we use at Mass, the Roman Missal<\/em> and the Lectionary<\/em>, you can find every single word that needs to be said for Mass except the homily and introduction.<\/p>\n

That means I could basically stand up here and just read word for word from the books (you can find a homily in other non-official books).\u00a0 That would only reflect on what I do<\/em><\/strong> at Mass.\u00a0 However, the diocese didn\u2019t send me to seven years of seminary and formation just to read words out of a book.\u00a0 It is important to use the correct words as found in the rite but I need to convey meaning and show that the words mean something to me.\u00a0 This can happen in the homily.\u00a0 It can also involve how I say the words and my body language.\u00a0 I hope the way I preside shows you that I truly do believe what I say and that I believe it is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus we receive.<\/p>\n

This is what drew me to the priesthood.\u00a0 I enjoyed aspects of being an engineer.\u00a0 We need some people to be engineers to develop and build things.\u00a0 I simply discovered it wasn\u2019t what God was calling me<\/em> to be.<\/p>\n

As much as I do more than just say words at Mass, I hope you do more than just physically hearing<\/em><\/strong> what is said.\u00a0 To open yourselves to all that the Mass offers you, you need to do more than listen.\u00a0 You need to actively participate in what is said by thinking about the meaning behind the words and actions you hear and see at Mass.<\/p>\n

So, if you want to get the most out of Mass, in fact what I say is true for all the sacraments, it isn\u2019t just a matter of showing up.\u00a0 We need to engage in the real meaning of what is going on.<\/p>\n

In the responsorial psalm today, we sang \u201cHere am I Lord, I come to do your will.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 May we open ourselves to what we hear today and the Holy Spirit so that we can do what the Lord asks of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 John 1:29-34 January 15, 2017 Our first reading today is part of what are known as four \u201cSuffering Servant Oracles\u201d in the Book of Isaiah. \u00a0These oracles speak of the role of the servant of the …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[236],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-ws","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2015,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions\/2015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}