Catechism of the Catholic Church – Page 3

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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Responsorial: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011920.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/

My brothers and sisters, today’s readings remind us that we are called. In our first reading, Isaiah was called to serve the Lord as His prophet. In the second reading, Paul was called to serve the Lord as His apostle. The person whose coming Isaiah was called to proclaim and whom Paul was sent to preach about is Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus was called to be the Savior of humanity.

Like Isaiah and Paul, we disciples are called to serve through Christ Jesus. Remember, being a disciple means accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, wanting to deepen our relationship with Jesus, and to go out into the world to bring the Good News to everyone we encounter – what Pope Francis calls being a missionary disciple. So, today’s readings remind us of our call rooted in our baptism.

Now this doesn’t mean that we all need to set out to become full time or part time missionaries in a foreign country. We may not all be physically capable of that sort of challenge. Nonetheless, we are called to serve in whatever capacity we can no matter whether we are 7 or 70! There are a myriad of ways that we can use our gifts, talents and resources to help advance the mission of Jesus Christ – to continue on our individual journeys to the Father and to reach out to those who have not heard or not accepted the Good News of Jesus Christ.

How is this possible? How is it that Jesus wants to use a person like me to reach out to other people? Through this beautiful church that Jesus established, he blesses us with the sacraments, and the sacraments equip us with God’s grace to help us, to heal us, to strengthen us so that we have the confidence to reach out to others – so that we can be a light of Christ for the nations.

I realize that might sound like a tall order, and you might be thinking to yourself, “Who, me?” But by our baptism, we are all called. The council fathers wrote, “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity,” (Lumen Gentium, §40).

We are not called to be pew potatoes or pew warmers – no! We are all called to serve and that begins with the people closest to us, like our family and friends, and to those we encounter each and every day. Yes, for some of us, this might be a great challenge, but that’s what it means to be disciples – that’s what it means to be saints.

“Ok now deacon, slow your roll! Who are you calling a saint?” You and me. Well, if not saints, then we are saints in training. Look, Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” So, it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or what you’ve done. What matters is your baptism – your being redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ – and your willingness to confess your sins and allow yourself to be healed.

All it takes is your “yes”. You see, God will never force Himself on you. So, you – each of us needs to say “yes” and cooperate in God’s plan present in the mission of His Church – to save souls and to build up the Kingdom of God. Are you ready? Then repeat after me: Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

Homework! After being nourished by His Word and His real and divine presence in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions this week:

In the Gospel we read, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” What sins do I need to ask God to forgive in his mercy? How am I open to God’s grace working in me to take away sin?
We also read, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” What prejudices or biases do I bring to my interactions with others? How can I more intentionally see Christ in those I meet?

I think that doing our homework will help us as disciples reach out to a dark world that desperately needs to hear a message of hope. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

References:

Hoisington, Thomas. “2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 19, 2020.” Homiletic & Pastoral Review, January 2020. Accessed 11 January 2020.
Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
Martin, Francis and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
Montague, George T., SM. First Corinthians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011.

Catechism Links: Easily search the Catechism at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Jesus, only Son of God, 441-45
Jesus’ baptism, 535-37, 1223-25
All called to holiness, 542-43, 2013-14
Lamb of God, 608
Christ’s death as the definitive sacrifice, 613-14
Holiness of the Church, 825
One, holy, Catholic and apostolic church, 811-70
Union with Christ, 1694

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 64
Mass Readings
First Reading
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
The LORD said to me: You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial
Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
R/ (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Second Reading
1 COR 1:1-3
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Alleluia
John 1:14A, 12A
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
To those who accepted him,
he gave power to become children of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
John 1:29-34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

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Fifth Sunday of Lent Readings
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm: Psalm 126: 1-6
Second Reading: Philippians 3:8-14
Gospel: John 8:1-11

In today’s gospel we hear that familiar story about the woman caught in adultery. They bring her to Jesus while he is in the temple and they demand to know what he thinks should be done with her. Like we briefly discussed last week, today’s Gospel presents a couple of the big kahuna of sins, like adultery. In the language of the Church, we call these mortal sins. Brief side note, why are they called mortal sins? They are mortal sins because they can destroy our relationship with the Lord and His community, like adultery, a mortal sin can shatter a family.

In 1 John 5:16-17, for example, we learn the distinction between sins. John says all sin is bad, but there are some sins that are deadly. Smaller sins or what we Catholics call venial sins wound our relationship with the Lord. Mortal sins ruin or can kill our relationship with God and with His community. To be a mortal sin, the sin must be a grave matter, aka a big kahuna sin. Second, I have to know that it’s a serious sin. Sin is not an accident. Finally, I need to freely chose to do it even though I know it’s a sin. Those are the three characteristics of mortal sins. I have a few links at the bottom of notes that give more information about sins including the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a couple of excellent YouTube videos.

Ok, back to our Gospel today. As usual, there are so many things going on – there is so much texture in this reading alone, not to mention the other two readings and the psalm, that it’s difficult to know where to begin and how much to discuss. So, think about today’s Gospel, let’s start with this: it’s a trap!

The scribes and Pharisees tried to trap Jesus. On one hand, if he in any way refutes the Law, then they could accuse him in front of the Jews as lacking authenticity. How can he be a prophet let alone the Messiah if rejects the Law of Moses – to Law of God? On the other hand, if he affirms the Law and says that indeed, she should be stoned to death, then they can hand him over to the Romans and accuse him of trying to undermine Roman authority by advocating vigilante law. You see, it was against Roman law to kill another person.

Jesus doesn’t buy it.

Instead, he squats down and begins to write in the dirt. Wouldn’t you like to have been a fly on the wall to see what he was doing? Was he just doodling? Or was he writing something? Or was he drawing images that correspond to sins? We don’t know. But instead of falling into the trap, he brilliantly says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” According to the Gospel, what happens next is that one by one, the crowd starts to dissolve. Then later, he asks her, “‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.’”

Now, does this mean that adultery isn’t that big a deal? No, I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying at all. I think what he is trying to illustrate is that there is another mortal sin going on – the sin of pride. Now pride is said to be the first and most deadly of all sin. Why? Pride as a sin is the irrational belief that you are better than, superior to and more important than others. C.S. Lewis tells us that, “…it was through pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice…” (Mere Christianity, 121). So, perhaps Jesus is teaching us we can’t sin to expose sin. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

But Jesus doesn’t let the woman off the hook. First, he demonstrates God’s mercy by saying he doesn’t condemn her. If she is repentant, then she will be spared. But, he tells her to sin no more. Now this is what repentance is all about. The goal is not just to admit to ourselves, to our family and friends, and to God that we sinned. We need to try not to repeat the same sin.

That’s the point of the Catholic understanding of reconciliation. First, we go to confession to say our sins. Why? Because there is something powerful about admitting out loud that we did something wrong. We take ownership of what we did wrong. Second, we make amends, which is to say we try to make it up to God, our families and our friends. Third, and this is key, we commit to try not to repeat the same sin.

The great lure of sin is that it traps us in a never-ending cycle of sin. How many of find that we keep repeating the same sins over and over and over again? So, the goal of reconciliation is to try to commit to sin no more. Lent is wonderful time to come to terms with the things we’ve done wrong in our lives that have damaged our relationship with God, or family and our friends. In the Catholic tradition, this is an excellent time to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation and experience the grace of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Homework! Reflecting on the Gospel today, I encourage you to consider the following two questions in this week as we make our way to Palm Sunday:

Have you ever experienced the feeling that were so right and someone else was so wrong that it didn’t matter to you what you did to prove it? What does today’s Gospel tell us about that?
When was the last time you experienced the healing grace of God’s mercy and forgiveness? Maybe it’s time to go to Reconciliation.

I hope that doing our homework this week will help us take the focus off ourselves and open us to God’s mercy and love. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Resources:
• Catechism of the Catholic Church 1846-1876 on sin
• Bishop Robert Barron: “Seven Deadly Sins; Seven Lively Virtues”
• Fr. Mike Schmitz: “Mortal vs. Venial Sin”