Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.
JESUS, “THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.“

Dear brethren in Christ, in today’s Sunday liturgy, Our Mother Church reminds us of the following ideas:

1. In the 1st reading, the prophet Isaiah 49:3,5-6 foretells us that Christ is the light of the nations that has come to rescue us from the darkness of our sins: “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

2. Our salvation brought by Our Lord Jesus Christ will be done through the obedience to the will of God in everything, even unto death on the Cross: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will (Resp. Psalm).”

• As Christians, fulfilling God’s Will must always be our principal concern if we are to follow faithfully Our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray it daily in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

• At times, fulfilling His Will is not that easy neither to understand nor to carry it out, but what is important is our firm faith and conviction that God always knows and wants what is best for us. Also, we should avoid the temptation of trying to comprehend everything for we shouldn’t have to nor would we be capable of doing so with our limited capacity. That is why faith is necessary. Otherwise, there is no need for it.

3. Jesus fulfilled the Will of God the Father till the end. In the Gospel (Jn 1:29-34), St. John call him the “Lamb of God”, −the very first time it is mentioned in the Gospels−, “who takes away the sin of the world” whom we invoke in the rite of communion asking Him to have mercy on us and give us His peace. He is the Son of God who has baptized us with the Holy Spirit

• As the Commentary of the Navarre Gospel states: “Isaiah had compared the sufferings of the Servant of Yahweh, the Messiah, with the sacrifice of a lamb (cf. Is 53:7); and the blood of the paschal lamb smeared on the doors of houses had served to protect the firstborn of the Israelites in Egypt (cf. Ex 12:6-7): all this was a promise and prefiguring of the true Lamb, Christ, the victim in the Sacrifice of Calvary on behalf of all mankind. This is why St Paul will say that “Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7). The expression “Lamb of God” also suggests the spotless innocence of the Redeemer (cf. 1 Pet 1:18-20; 1 Jn 3:5).
• The sacred text says “the sin of the world”, in the singular, to make it absolutely clear that every kind of sin is taken away: Christ came to free us from original sin, which in Adam affected all men, and from all personal sins.
• The book of the Apocalypse reveals to us that Jesus is victorious and glorious in heaven as the slain lamb (cf. Rev 5.6-14), surrounded by saints, martyrs and virgins (Rev 7:9, 14; 14:1-5), who render him the praise and glory due him as God (Rev 7:10).”

Dear brethren in Christ, let us thank Our Lord Jesus Christ for fulfilling God’s Will out of love for us and for our salvation, with a total obedience, the holocaust of an innocent, spotless and sinless victim to save the sinfulness and ingratitude of mankind, without any complaint.

If God grants us the grace to suffer with Him, let us remember that Christ preceded us to give us an example to follow. And in the midst of our grief, suffering, pain brought about by great and small trials in our life, let us tell Our Lord: “Here I am lord; I come to do your will” and pray:

“All the earth shall bow down before you, O God, and shall sing to you; shall sing to your name, O Most High! May thy Most Holy Will be done, be praised, be adored, God Almighty  (Entrance Antiphon).”

A blessed Sunday and week ahead! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

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