God’s Love: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Second Sunday In Ordinary Time – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Reassurance of God’s love! Renewal and Reassurance!
Point of Reflection: The Liturgy of the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time focuses on the theme of renewal and reassurance. We hear God reassuring the people about his presence and closeness in words referring to the very beginning of life; thus, God knows us from our mothers’ very womb. From the moment of conception, God made each one of us a special child, entrusted with a particular task and mission in the world. Do I renew my zeal for God? What do I normally do when experiencing feelings of doubt, discouragement and resignation? Am I a source of support and encouragement for my family, community and friends? As baptised Christians, our mission is to reflect God’s love through sharing positive and encouraging words and thoughts, which we learn through reading the Word of God.
First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5–6
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7–10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1–3
Gospel: John 1:29–34
Sermon (Reflection): After celebrating Christmas, the manifestation (Epiphany), and the Baptism of the Lord, the Church invites us to begin the liturgical year of ordinary time, which leads believers through daily life with all its daily joys and troubles, happiness and trials, the mundane and the extraordinary. The liturgy of the Sunday which begins this time provides the necessary reassurance needed to face this long and often challenging journey.
Entering into “ordinary time”, the liturgy provides believers with a powerful assurance that God will remain with them in all circumstances. In the first reading, Isaiah prophesied to “the remnant of Israel” that even when faced with adverse circumstances and seemingly insurmountable challenges, they had been chosen to carry out God’s special mission, and God would empower them to succeed in it.
The first reading of today contains a text known as the first of the four “servant songs” found in the book of Isaiah. In the first song, this “servant” is clearly identified as the people of Israel. First, the servant was commissioned to restore the shattered people identified as “the tribes of Jacob and survivors of Israel.” This means that the servant was to carry the knowledge of God’s ways to all the peoples of the earth. Isaiah’s description of the servant and his mission suggests that this mysterious figure was, in fact, a group of faithful Israelites who maintained their faith and commitment to the God of Israel in the aftermath of the Babylonian destruction. This group is sometimes referred to as “the remnant of Israel.” Due to its faithfulness and resilience, even in the midst of most desperate circumstances, this unyielding and committed remnant was given the mission of restoring the nation and of bringing God’s salvation to the entire world. As Christians, we need to remain faithful to God even during difficult times.
In the second reading, we hear of St Paul’s troubled Corinthians, about their adherence to Christ and the demands of Christian life, which were an ongoing and daily challenge. Paul reassured them, however, that their call to holiness is irrevocable and that holiness is an ongoing project. John the Baptist testified to Jesus’ identity, as did John the Evangelist, who likely saw and heard Jesus in person. Jesus was God’s Son who saved his faithful and now empowers and guides them with the Holy Spirit. Thus reassured, believers can confidently face their daily struggles and say with the Psalmist, “I delight to do your will, my God.”
The second readings for the next seven consecutive Sundays will be drawn from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthian community was Paul’s “problem child.” The relationship between this Church and its founder is well documented in two long letters to the Corinthians, which reveal a picture of a deeply divided and contentious community. The Corinthians frequently opposed Paul, distorted or refused to follow his instructions and, at one time, disowned him as their rightful leader. Yet, the Apostle of the Gentiles never disowned them. This is exactly what God does to us, Our Lord does not disown us, we need to renew our zeal and be assured of God’s love.
The renewal and reassurance is what St Paul has called it to be Holy. In the first words, he addresses the community with a phrase that should be translated, “those who have been made holy in Jesus Christ, and are called holy.”
We are all called to holiness and to be holy we need to constantly renew our zeal for Christ and be assured of God’s love.
Today’s Gospel reading has to be read and understood in conjunction with the passage that precedes it, in John 1:19-28. There, John the Evangelist describes a delegation from the Jewish leaders coming to John the Baptist, asking whether he was the promised Messiah. John the Baptist denied that he was the Messiah, and proceeded to explain his identity, which he described as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the one who would be sent to point out the Messiah to the world. The passage from today’s reading presents John fulfilling his mission; he publicly pointed to Jesus as the Son of God and the giver of the Holy Spirit. John the Evangelist placed this episode at the beginning of his Gospel account for the purpose of assurance, and perhaps reassurance, for those who doubted that Jesus was the One promised by God, the promised Messiah and God’s own Son. Such doubts must have lurked in the minds and hearts of many early Christians confronted with the proclamation of Jesus’ death on the cross. Given his shameful death, could he have truly been divine? One of the purposes John the Evangelist had in writing his Gospel was to provide assurance for the hesitant or doubting ones that, despite and through dying on the cross as the Lamb of God, Jesus truly was the God-sent Saviour and God’s Son.
Christian Act in Word of God: “Renew the Zeal and be reassured of God’s love”
Faced with the difficulties of daily life, we need to be constantly made aware of God’s constant presence to us. We need to hear and repeat words of reassurance over and over again, particularly when overwhelmed by worries, hardships, preoccupations and challenges of life. When things do not work out our way, we begin to doubt. When we face tasks that we do not feel capable of handling well, we feel overwhelmed. When we look to an uncertain future, we panic. When we pray, and God does not answer, we begin to despair. All this makes life rougher and tougher, but these are real emotions we often experience. In response to these, the word of God gives us hope and confidence that God stands with us and we are never left completely on our own. Today God gives us reassurance that even when we are sad, depressed, ill, unemployed or in difficult relationships, we are never truly alone. The Psalmist assures us that the Lord will “bend down and hear my cry.”
One way to experience God’s reassuring presence is to look at Jesus. In the Gospel, we hear about his baptism by John the Baptist. As he was baptised, God reassured Jesus by calling him the “beloved Son.” Jesus could carry out his mission because God was continuously with him. We became united with Jesus, the Lamb of God, through our own Baptism. In this sacrament, we were made a part of God’s family. That means that when we are united with Jesus, we are never far from God’s presence. As “holy people”, as Paul calls Christians, we are united to the Holy God through Jesus. Therefore, when challenged by life we must look to him for reassurance. Seeing his love for us, love that made him the Lamb of God, we also see the sacrificial Lamb who went to the cross for us. There can be no greater reassurance. As St Paul stated: nothing can separate us from the love of God manifested in Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 8:31-39). Let us renew our zeal for Christ and never be separated from Christ.
Action: Today I renew my commitment to learn more about God’s ways through reading the Bible, so that I might reassure my brothers and sisters through God’s word.
Prayer: Gracious Father, we thank you for reassuring us of your constant presence and care. You called us from the womb of our mothers to be your children and servants. Grant us the Holy Spirit to live a holy life worthy of our calling and make us able to reflect it in our actions and the words of encouragement we speak to one another. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
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