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Shepherds of Christ |
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January 16, 2011
January 17th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 7 Period I.The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for January 17th are Joyful.
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January 16, 2011
R. 4 Servant Songs
The servant's job was to bring
justice and light to the world —
These do not name Jesus as the servant —
But, the servant songs —
perfectly describe Jesus —
God's perfect servant —
They were written 500 years before Christ —
They describe Jesus perfectly —
Today's Readings
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6
He said to me, ‘Israel, you are my servant,
through whom I shall manifest my glory.’And now Yahweh has spoken,
who formed me in the womb
to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
and to re–unite Israel to him;
—I shall be honoured in Yahweh’s eyes,
and my God has been my strength.—
He said, ‘It is not enough for you
to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I shall make you a light to the nations
so that my salvation may reach
the remotest parts of earth.
1 Corinthians 1: 1-3
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be God’s holy people, with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1: 29-34
The next day, he saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It was of him that I said, "Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me because he existed before me." I did not know him myself, and yet my purpose in coming to baptise with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John declared, ‘I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven and rest on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptise with the Holy Spirit." I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.’
I will make you a light to the Nations —
Sing: Here I am Lord —
Words of Message
Song: Here I am Lord I come to do your will —
I delight in doing the will of God —
God gives us a new song to praise Him —
Paul, we see, was called by the will
of God to his mission —
called to bring light and justice
to the people
Fr. Joe said: One weekend
A doctor and priest and lawyer went out
deep sea fishing — they went in
the ocean — the motor conked out — so they
oared and then the oar fell in — so the
doctor wanted to go in. There were lots of sharks.
The doctor said he couldn't
go in because sharks were
out there and he rationalized they
might need medical help —
so he declined going in to get the oar —
Then the priest said they might
need a priest he couldn't go to
get the oar —
Then the lawyer said
"I'll go"
"It's professional courtesy"
He got in, got the oar and got out —
The priest and doctor were amazed —
The lawyer said —
"Somebody has to stick their
neck out"
Jesus stuck His neck out —
Last week we heard about the baptism
of Jesus from St. Matthew
Today we hear from St. John about
this event —
"Lamb" was a rich image for the Jews —
The Jews used the lamb for sacrifice —
PASCAL LAMB —
Remember in the PASSION quote
Isaiah 53: 6-7
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each taking his own way,
and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion
of all of us to bear on him.
Ill–treated and afflicted,
he never opened his mouth,
like a lamb led to the slaughter–house,
like a sheep dumb before its shearers
he never opened his mouth.
We live in the environment —
people causing others unneeded
suffering —
They forget about doing God's will many times
and hurt others — They have their
own agenda — Letting hurt
emotions anger fear — be the reason for
why we act —
Sin affects all of us —
Like a fish in the ocean, the fish can't
see the ocean because he is
in it floating around —
Living in a bubble —
We didn't see the real estate
bubble until it burst —
We were in the bubble
Jesus came in a world of sin — to lead us out —
to save us —
When Jesus went to be baptized
John the Baptist said
"you're coming to me ..."
In today's Gospel
St. John the Baptist makes
reference to what he saw —
St. John the Baptist
knew Jesus would take away
the sin in the world —
The Baptist saw the Spirit come down on Jesus —
He saw the Spirit come down on Jesus —
John revealed Jesus then to His disciples —
Fr. Joe said
Many dedicated lay people have
made Jesus known to me,
my mom and dad and teachers and confessor
Fr. Joe says —
The importance of lay people in
my life have made known
to me so much about Jesus —
He was affected so much by
lay friends, faith-filled people
in His life —
May we not be shy in giving testimony
about Jesus to others
We have been called in baptism to do this —
Fr. Joe said —
We give gifts to God and others
without strings attached or we
can attach strings —
Giving a gift to God is a sacrifice —
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INTRODUCTION: Last week in our first reading we heard about God’s servant who would bring justice and light to the world. We hear again about God’s servant leading the people of Israel back to God, and bringing God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. These passages about God’s servant (there are four of them) were written over 500 years before Christ. Scholars do not know exactly who might have fit the description of God’s servant at that time, but with the advantage of hindsight we see how perfectly the servant songs describe God's perfect servant, Jesus Christ.
HOMILY: Today I want to talk about gifts and sheep. First gifts. There is no doubt about it, gift giving is a part of us. We just finished a very busy time of gift giving and already the stores have put out things for Valentine’s Day. Sometimes gifts are not sincere, they are given with strings attached or because they are expected or to gain someone’s favor. But most of us give gifts to one another simply out of appreciation or gratitude or love.
Just as much as it is a part of our nature to give gifts to one another, it has always been basic to human nature to offer gifts to God. I would like to think most of the time our offering to God comes from appreciation or gratitude or love, and it probably does, but in the back of our minds we’re also hoping to win a few points with God. That’s okay. God understands and appreciates hearing from us even when it’s for our own self-interest. Didn’t he teach us to ask for the things we need.
When we give a gift to God, it is called sacrifice. All ancient religions that I know of had some form of sacrifice, which indicates to me that sacrifice is instinctual. Some primitive religions offered human sacrifice, the implication being that human life was the most precious gift they had to offer. In the story of Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac, God revealed to the Jewish people this was not what he wanted. The Israelites offered food and drink which symbolized their life. Without food and drink we die, so in the offering it was their way of saying they recognized they owed their life to God. Grain and wine and oil were offered, but the primary offering was an animal (when they had the means to afford it), most frequently a lamb. Thus my second theme: sheep. Other than seeing lamb on a restaurant menu occasionally, or counting sheep when we turn in for the night, the thought of a lamb seldom crosses our mind. But sheep were, and still are in the Middle East, as common as cell phones are in our culture today. They provided wool for clothing, meat for festive occasions, and sacrifices for their God. In the Temple of Jerusalem, priests offered a lamb twice a day as a sacrifice. At the time of Jesus, on the Preparation Day before Passover, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed for the traditional Passover meal. Although this number could be an exaggeration, Josephus is telling us the priests were kept mighty busy on that day. The sacrifice of the paschal lamb took place only in Jerusalem, beginning at noon. This was the same time Jesus was condemned and died on the cross. St. John, in his gospel, specifically connects Jesus’ sacrifice with the sacrifice of the paschal lambs when he tells us that when Jesus was pierced with a lance it fulfilled the Scripture, which said “not one of his bones shall be broken.” That was a requirement for the Paschal lamb. (Jn 19,36)
Jesus’ sacrifice of his life was offered in perfect obedience and love and fidelity to his Father and to the mission his Father gave him. Because it was the sacrifice of the Son of God it had infinite value. Because of its infinite value, it made all other sacrifices obsolete. Moreover, Jesus made it possible for all of us to share in this perfect sacrifice to the Father when at the Last Supper he said the words: “do this in memory of me.” To digress for a moment: Somehow in this day and age, it seems the more we have been blessed, the more we take for granted and the less grateful we have become. I sense that many people these days think of God as some kind of rich uncle who is there to give them what they want. When he doesn’t do so, they just turn their backs and sort of say: why waste time on someone who won’t do what I want them to do.
Back to the gospel. Could John the Baptist have had any of this in mind about Jesus as the perfect sacrifice when he called Jesus the “lamb of God?” Certainly John recognized the saving mission of Jesus for he refers to Jesus as the one who would take away the sin of the world. I hope it doesn’t complicate things too much if I say the following: In the Greek John uses the words: “lamb of God.” Scholars have gone back to the Aramaic which is what Jesus and the Baptist would have spoken most of the time and they tell us the Aramaic word for “lamb” was talya, which also meant “servant.” Thus we see the title “Lamb of God” connected with the first reading about God’s servant who would be a light to the nations that God’s salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.
I want to conclude by making one last reference to the term “Lamb of God.” Here we can look at the Book of Revelation (a.k.a. the Apocalypse). Jesus is represented there also as a lamb, a lamb who was slain, but who is now enthroned and glorified, praised and worshipped by all the heavenly hosts. From the throne of God and from the lamb flows life and blessings of every kind. Those who will enjoy these blessings and who will share in his victory are those who have followed the lamb. The Lamb of God is not just a perfect gift to God, but the way to eternal life for all of us. As we offer our perfect gift to God through Jesus our paschal lamb and worthy servant, may it help us be more faithful and grateful servants of our God.
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Homilies by Fr. Joe Robinson
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Copyright
© 2011 Shepherds
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Rights for non-commercial
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May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.
Translations are welcome but they must be reviewed for moral and
theological accuracy by a source approved by Shepherds of Christ Ministries
before any distribution takes place. Please contact us for more information.
All scripture quotes are from the
New Jerusalem Bible, July 1990, published by Doubleday.
Revised: January 1,
2011
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