Behold the Lamb

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lamb of God window
Assumption Church
Fairfield, CT

Older Catholics will remember that before the Second Vatican Council there were only two major readings from Scripture at each Mass. There was the Epistle usually taken from one of the letters of St. Paul, and the Gospel reading from one of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The same readings were repeated every year. Moreover, the priest read the readings in Latin with his back to the congregation. Only in the last century did he repeat the Gospel in the vernacular while facing the people.

Besides allowing the use of the native language throughout the Mass, the Council sought to expand the selection of readings in order to put greater emphasis on the proclamation of the word of God, which became known as the Liturgy of the Word. This was done in two ways. First, a third reading was added to the traditional two. Now we have a first reading usually taken from the Hebrew scriptures or Old Testament. Then a second reading taken from the Epistles or Acts of the Apostles; and, finally, the Gospel.

However, the Church also introduced three cycles of readings, an A, B, and C cycle. That is, instead of the same readings every year, it would take three years before the readings would be repeated. The cycles are primarily differentiated by the gospel selections. In the A cycle, the gospel readings will be primarily from the Gospel of St. Matthew. In the B cycle it will be St. Mark, and in the C cycle it will be St. Luke. We will find readings from St. John interspersed throughout all three cycles.

Today is the second Sunday in Ordinary time. Ordinary time signifies that part of the church year which is not part of any particular feast, like Christmas or Easter. We might ask what happened to the first Sunday in Ordinary time? Well, it was last week when we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It marked the beginning of the public life of Jesus with his baptism by John the Baptist at the river Jordan. Today, we follow up on that important event.

But let's begin by taking a look at our first reading today from the prophet Isaiah. The reading refers to a servant of the Lord who will derive his strength from the Lord, and who will be a "light to the nations," in order that the Lord's "salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

Who is this servant? Is it Isaiah, himself? Is it the whole people of Israel? Is it some person in the future, say John the Baptist or even Jesus, himself? It is hard to say. Both Jesus and the Baptist appear in today's gospel account. Let's take a close look at what happens.

Representatives of the leaders of the Jews had approached John to ask him if he was the promised Messiah. John replied that he only baptized with water but that there was someone in their midst, “the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to loose.”

The next day the gospel account tells us that John “saw Jesus coming toward him” and said,

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

We have just completed the joyous feast of Christmas but the Church in its liturgical year does not dwell on the babe in the manger but immediately starts by confronting us with the whole purpose of the Lord’s mission. Jesus is going to sacrifice himself for us. He is the sacrificial Lamb who will atone for the sins of the people. From that point on sacrifice becomes the key element not only in our liturgy but in our lives.

Jesus is going to embark on a mission that will end with his crucifixion and death. Immediately after His baptism, the Evangelist tells us that Jesus began to call disciples to follow him. First Andrew and Peter, and then the rest ending with us. Fortunately, the sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient for us. Most of us will not have to face torture and a cruel death. But if we call ourselves followers of Christ, we will have to give up, in our own little way, our own lives in the service of others.

Husbands will give up their lives for their wives, and wives for their husbands. Both will have to sacrifice for their children. When they grow older, the children will have to sacrifice for their parents. Scripture tells us that people without spouses and children are called to even greater sacrifice. Not one of us is exempt. To save our life, we must lose it.

We all love sports but don’t we admire those players who sacrifice themselves for the good of the team? Even baseball has a special play called a “sacrifice” where a player gives himself up to advance a teammate.

So in today’s second reading when St. Paul tells the Corinthians to be “holy”, he is not telling them to become plaster saints. He is calling them to a life of hard work and sacrifice in doing the work of the Lord. Just as Jesus did, he is calling us to become disciples, and “take one for the team.”

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Reading 1. Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6
Reading II. 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3
Gospel. John 1: 29-34 (lamb of God).

5th Sunday of Easter

5th Sunday of Easter
C cycle

Reading 1. Acts 14: 21-27
Reading II. Revelation 21: 1-5a
Gospel. John 13:31-33a, 34-35 (love one another).

In today's first reading we continue to follow Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey. Last week we saw that after meeting opposition in the Jewish community in Antioch, a seaport in what is now Turkey, they decided to take their message to the Gentiles or non-Jews. In fact Paul now realizes that the mission of the Jews has always been to bring the God of Israel to the Gentiles.

It's hard for us to understand the need for this missionary activity. We do not realize how much fear ruled the world in which Paul and Barnabas traveled. When we read of Greek and Roman philosophers and poets, we fail to realize that they were few and far between. For the most part the Gentiles were consumed by fear of the gods. Here's a few examples.

In the ancient world families had to produce heirs to carry on the worship of the ancestral gods. Superstition led people to attribute any bad luck to a failure to properly carry out the rites and sacrifices for the dead family gods. Women, therefore, were little more than child bearing machines. If they couldn't bear children, Roman law required that their husbands divorce them. In most cases the very idea of love between husband and wife was unimaginable. Girls as young as 12 were given in marriage to men much older. If a woman bore a daughter, her husband could order her to kill the infant girl and try again. Infanticide was a common practice among the Romans.

Sacrifices were continually offered to idols in order to appease the gods. These were not harmless practices. Plague, famine, every stroke of bad luck was caused by some god who had been angered by failure to follow the proper rituals. I recently read a letter from a young missionary nurse in Thailand who reported how fear of the gods could ruin the life of an entire family. Even today when a child becomes ill a poor family will not seek medical help but will offer up a chicken to the gods. When the child's condition worsens, they then offer their cow only to find that doesn't work either. The child dies anyway but now the family faces financial ruin and starvation.

Of course, we know of other civilizations where human sacrifice was the accepted way to appease the gods. In today's gospel reading we have something new. The scene is at the Last Supper where Jesus predicts his own sacrifice for us. He says to the Apostles,

I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.

This command to the Apostles will have a profound influence in the ancient world. The Christians like their Jewish brethren cannot practice abortion or infanticide. They must welcome their children and love them, even their daughters. In fact, many of the conversions in the early Church occurred because pagan men could not find pagan wives. They married Christian girls who brought their husbands to the faith as so many still do today.

In a well-known passage St. Paul tells husbands to love their wives. We don't realize after 2000 years of Christianity how shocking or abnormal this must have appeared in the ancient world. After all, what does love mean? Jesus gave us plenty of examples. At the Last Supper He stooped to wash the feet of his disciples. No self respecting Gentile would ever consider serving his wife in this manner. The next day He gave his life on the Cross as an example to us. From that day on every Christian man and woman had the responsibility to lay down his or her life for each other.

We are going to see over the next few weeks that this love was intended to extend beyond our own family, village, tribe, and nation. In today's gospel Jesus did not ask us to love Him, He commanded us to love one another. It's sad to think how little progress we've made in the last 2000 years. All the fears and horrors that Paul and Barnabas found in the ancient world still exist today. We only have to pick up today's newspaper to see the evidence.

Today's second reading is from the Book of Revelation. St. John had a vision, a dream of "a new heaven and a new earth." God, he says, will be with his people.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.

Today, more than ever it seems like just a dream. But what can we do? How does it help to give up on faith, hope, or charity? We have our command, our marching orders. There is nothing stopping us from embarking on our own missionary journey. Maybe we don't have the gift of preaching but we can give a good example to our neighbors. "Paul and Barnabas opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." We can open the door so that Love can walk right in.

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
































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3rd Sunday of Easter

3rd Sunday of Easter
C cycle

Reading 1. Acts 5: 27b-32
Reading II. Revelation 5: 11-14
Gospel. John 21: 1-19 (Feed my sheep).


Today's three readings all deal with manifestations of the Risen Christ although in different ways. In the Acts of the Apostles we have an historical account of the first efforts of the Apostles to bring the message of Jesus to the world. In today's gospel we have another appearance of the Risen Lord to the Apostles--this time in Galilee on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. Finally, the second reading from the Book of Revelation presents us with a prophetic vision of the Risen Christ at the Heavenly Altar.

In the first reading we find that the Apostles have been brought before the Jewish leaders for violating their command to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and the other Apostles explain why they cannot stop teaching, why they must show by their words and deeds the Risen Lord to the world. "We must obey God rather than men." Once again they bear witness to the Resurrection and its meaning.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Today's reading skips over the immediate reaction of the members of the Sanhedrin to these shocking words. They are furious and want to slay the apostles but a very wise man, Gamaliel, urges them to proceed with more caution. He tells the assembly that if the apostles are not from God, their movement will soon falter and die. However, if they are of God nothing that men can do will stop them. In fact, opposing them might mean opposing God himself. So time or providence will tell. The leaders follow Gamaliel's advice and let the Apostles off with only a flogging and a warning "to stop teaching in the name of Jesus."

But how could they after they had experienced the Risen Lord and received His Spirit? Today's gospel gives us St. John's account of the third appearance of Jesus to the Apostles at the shore of Lake Tiberias in Galilee. Remember that when our Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene on the first Easter Sunday, He told her to tell the Apostles to return to Galilee. Well, here they are back where they started from. He had called them from their fishing boats at the start of His career, and now they return to them.

After a night of fruitless effort a stranger appears on the shore at dawn and asks them if they've had any luck. When they answer, "No," He tells them to cast their nets in again and the result is incredible--the famous "miraculous draught of fish." They then realize that the stranger is the Lord and Peter, impetuous as always, jumps into the water and swims to shore. The others finally bring the heavily laden boat in and they all sit down to breakfast with Jesus. Apparently He had made a fire and was cooking. For breakfast He gave them bread and fish in the same way that He had fed the multitude.

Readers of this part of John's gospel have seen all sorts of sacred symbolism. However, I would like to focus on the conversation between Jesus and Peter after the meal was over. Peter gets his chance to atone for denying the Lord three times. Three times our Lord asks "do you love Me?" Each time when Peter answers "Yes, Lord," Jesus diverts or redirects his love. "Feed my lambs." "Tend my sheep." "Feed my sheep." Jesus had called Himself "the Good Shepherd" and now He turns over the shepherd's staff to Peter.

He is also turning something over to us. There is an old story about a man who loved mankind in general but hated every man he ever met. Sadly, there are many people whose so-called love for Jesus gets in the way of their love for their neighbor. Jesus is telling Peter and us that it can't work that way. Christians cannot sacrifice their children to the gods. Christians cannot let their neighbor go hungry or homeless. In the early days of the Church the pagans marveled not just at miraculous healings but at the behavior of ordinary Christians.

For example, when plagues would strike Roman cities, the citizens would flee leaving behind the sick and the dying to fend for themselves. Often, only the Christians would stay behind to care not only for their own brethren but for the pagans as well. Sometimes basic nursing care was all that it took to restore the sick to health. This love for neighbor marked the Christians out as different and was a major factor in the growth of the early Church.

In the weeks after Easter the second reading is taken from the "Book of Revelation." There we hear of St. John's vision of the Risen Christ, the Lamb of God, sitting at a throne or "heavenly altar" and receiving praise and thanksgiving from "every creature in heaven and on earth." It is the scene of the last days when the sheep will be separated from the goats. It is the time when Jesus will ask us, "Do you love me?"

St. Matthew depicts this same scene in his gospel. There, in chapter 25 our Lord, the king, is welcoming the just into the kingdom and praising them for their faithful service to Him. But they fail to understand:

Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and feed thee; or thirsty, and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and take thee in; or naked, and clothe thee?
Or when did we see thee sick, or in prison, and come to thee?

Amen I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethern, you did it for Me.





















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