Paul's Reflections 453 : 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A

Homily 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A  19th January, 2014     

 

There is a line in today's gospel that John the Baptist keeps repeating… and it is an intriguing one….  Twice John the Baptist says "I did not know him….but…."….    What is the meaning of this line……   

It is mysterious…

 

John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus….   He certainly would have known who he THOUGHT Jesus was, but now he was seeing a new side of him….  Someone much more significant….  The one who would carry the sins of the world on his back and through whom the world would be saved…….   It is almost too enormous for comprehension……    John the Baptist has very clear and strong ideas about what the Messiah would be like… and although it was his role to proclaim his coming, the really ironic thing is that John the Baptist really got it wrong……  his concept of what the messiah would be like…. Was not anything like what Jesus turned out to be….   Jesus turned on its head the concept of what a messiah was like….  Instead of judgement… he brought a time of God's favour….. instead of retribution…  he brought freedom from prison, and cancellation of indebtedness………    absolutely amazing…..  John the Baptist had to really swallow his pride and do a back flip in order to understand what Jesus was showing him and what Jesus was trying to show all people  who had the eyes of faith……

 

John the Baptist keeps repeating… I did not know him, but he is the one I was preparing the way for,,,,,,,,

 

There is something reassuring about this for you us… who live two thousand years later…  we believe in Jesus as the Lamb of God… and the messiah….. each of us here is committed to following Jesus. However, we are in good company if we do not fully comprehend the significance of who Jesus is for us ……   if we do not yet fully appreciate the radical call that Jesus is asking of us……    the world-changing values Jesus has come to bring us…..

 

I always have a soft spot for the poor disciple of Jesus… they followed Jesus wherever he went…. They saw themselves as his disciples….his faithful……. They knew their master, Jesus, had the words of everlasting life…. But time and time again.. they 'did not get it' they missed the point of what Jesus was trying to tell them.  Jesus was often quite exasperated with his disciples, saying…  'you have been with me all this time and still you do not KNOW me?" they often did not have a clue….. but still the kept following.. and slowly….   Little by little… they began to understand who he was…. And what the meaning of his message was…. 

 

In the Gospel, St John  the Baptist declares…  "look! There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."    It's a timely reminder. We need Jesus. We need saving..  Sadly, we humans are not the final authority on everything. We are not the masters of all that we survey (and that can be extremely frightening and unsettling, because we would like to have a large measure of control over our lives, it is a natural instinct for security and peace-of-mind and self-preservation).  But, the events of recent years.. where various communities throughout Australia and in the world…have witnessed natural disasters or suffering or war….   remind us that although we are not meant to be entirely helpless, nor ought we ever just allow ourselves to be tossed helplessly through the events of life, it also can be very comforting and a source of a kind of serene peace for us to acknowledge that we are not all powerful,  and that we surrender ourselves into the care of God's grace…..  and that we truly and really NEED God and we need to be saved by God. In a real sense we would be utterly helpless without God's saving guidance and help.  

 I am reminded of a painting that someone once did… it was entitled "perfect peace"  but it was a painting of a storm-tossed mountainside.  What is 'peaceful about this… it looks anything but peaceful'   (people would naturally say!).  But a close look shows a small bird nestling in a little cave….   Sheltered from the storms that rage uncontrolled around us.    It is a challenging and beautiful image…  peace comes not from stilling the things outside us, that we really have no control over…. But from taking shelter and receiving inner peace of heart no matter what storms rage around us….  It is not easy….. but at times it's the only thing that gets people through…  It is not a promise that everything will go right… because sometimes everything doesn't… it seems to all go wrong….  But our God walks with us, and we are instruments of God's compassion and care….   And that can make all the difference…

There are some other lines from this weekend's readings that really strike me…… 

 

It is from the psalm: 'he put a new song in my heart…  a song of praise to our God"…..   and also  "I have told the glad news of our deliverance in the great congregation, see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O, Lord."

 

It reminds me….  there are so many things we can focus on in life….   ….   The words of scripture encourage and remind us that…  it is so important to notice and give voice to all the positive and life-giving things that are going on. There are so many things we give thanks for….  That can still fill us with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving…   fill us with a new song….

 

A commentator once said  that there are different types of prayer… prayer of petition, where we ask for what we need…  prayer of penance..where we ask for forgiveness…  ; prayer of lament.. where we cry out for what is hurting us.. or worrying us……..and also….prayer of worship and thanksgiving…where we give voice to all the gifts and wonders that surround us… that we can be tempted to take for granted…  our presenter said…  70 percent of our prayer should be prayer of thanksgiving.. that still give us 30 percent for asking for things.. or voicing grievances and hurts….. this is not suggesting that we go on talking about everything being rosy when it may not be…. But even when we take the "rose coloured glasses off… even when we are brutally honest… there is still so much to be positive about… so much to be profoundly grateful for….  So many opportunities to see Jesus vision for the world which is so radically different from the logic of this world**… and yet…   we still struggle to understand the meaning of it….  But we never stop trying…..

 

The second reading has St Paul writing with affection to the community of believers in the church in Corinth. It is a reminder that we are all united with each other, and not even distance or time or culture separates us from our brothers and sisters everywhere in the world..  Like St Paul, we are united in prayer and in the Spirit with people everywhere and with the Heavenly community.  The grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ stays with us and binds us together in good times and in hard times.

Daily, we keep following Jesus, even though we (even now) do not fully understand his ways…..  but we believe in them….  We follow him into the unknown…..…..   trusting in his guidance along the path he leads us…….because he promises to be with us always….. in with a new song on our lips…  a song of praise…. And thanksgiving…

 

May God bless and protect us all, with his kind of peace – a peace the world alone cannot give…  .)

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        **Fr. John Fuellenbach, SVD,  personal notes from Fr Paul based on a talk given by Fr Fuellenbach in 2007).  Save a tree. Do not print this e-mail unless it's really necessary

 

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Paul's Reflections 452 : Baptism of Our Lord - A 12th January, 2014

Homily Baptism of Our Lord - A  12th January, 2014     

As the preface of the Eucharistic prayer for this weekend’s Mass says: … “in the waters of the Jordan (The Father) revealed with signs and wonders, a new Baptism,

And, so ‘Jesus’ own baptism in the waters of the River Jordan was the introduction to a new path….    Baptism now becomes for all of us the means by which we are joined (in a special way) to Jesus’ life and, therefore, joined to God’s family.. // sharing life in God’s own love…..

As we celebrate the wonderful event of Jesus’ Baptism, it is always a time for us to renew the promises made at our baptism, and to celebrate the gift of baptism for others too.

Initially, it seems strange that Jesus needed to be baptized at all. John was offering a baptism of repentance…   for the forgiveness of sin…. Jesus did not need that, and John the Baptist realized this, and so did Jesus…  but it was really important, nevertheless that Jesus did this….. 

It is not easy to understand why Jesus accepted baptism. For you and for me, baptism is our initiation into Christ. We “put on Christ” at baptism like we put on a new set of clothes. We become Christ-like at baptism. We are made one with God through our baptism and our sins are taken away (not only personal sin, but also the overall experience of alienation and “not-at-oneness” that we humans experience in this world….). Jesus was already God and Christ and perfectly “one with the Father.” Jesus had not sinned. So why is He baptized?? 

For some of the early Christian writers, the baptism of Jesus is best seen as Christ the flipside of what we receive in Baptism….  Just as we are made holy in the waters of baptism….    It is Jesus, who MAKES the waters holy and thus it is Jesus who transforms US WHO RECEIVE IT…  Jesus makes g holy the waters of baptism. We can understand that Christ going into the Jordan brings holiness to all that He touches. ( JESUS, by undergoing Baptism, was bringing to this beautiful action of repentance and forgiveness  a new, deeper and divine meaning and divine POWER… Jesus was, (so to speak)..  “electrifying the waters” with God’s transforming power to makes us God’s children and make us truly into  brothers and sisters in Jesus…and to wash clean our sins and re-create us in God’s image anew…)

At another level, Christ being baptized is showing us that He takes very seriously his desire to share in our human nature, to be in solidarity and in perfect union with his people…..    God takes on ALL of our humanity and shows us the way to live our lives. Baptism, the Scriptures tell us, is a baptism into Christ’s life and his way of living…  his self-emptying way of loving….   a love that gives everything… even unto death, (on a cross). Jesus invites us, by going into these water, to follow him into the waters that are the daily living of his good news…. the daily living of the sometimes difficult challenges of loving as Christ loves..

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Jesus the suffering servant, subjects himself to his human condition out of love and service…….so that he is "a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Abbot’s Homily, Monastery of Christ in the desert).

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It has also been said that, at his Baptism, Jesus definitively begins to SHOW AND TO ACT according to what he always was and always would be…..….  Jesus’ baptism is the official manifestation of him living this reality in his public ministry….being anointed by the Spirit with the oil of gladness to bring us light and hope and forgiveness…. (notes from 366 Days with the Lord)

Jesus shows us that discipleship is not merely a personal thing…  not just a private thing……   Being part of Christ’s good news is a participation in a very public ministry of Christ himself……..

Christ’s Baptism – signals the Commencement of his PUBLIC ministry. He has come from quiet and humble obscurity – from 30 or so years of everyday living, and now is dramatically appearing on the public scene…  revealed at last as the messiah, the chosen one……   the suffering servant of the Father…. and the son of God……with whom the Father is well pleased.

Jesus’ baptism is an invitation for us to reflect on the public and communal dimensions of our baptismal call…………. it is a good time to ask ourselves “in what ways do I step forward publicly as Jesus did, as a way of announcing and living practically the new reality represented in Baptism; 2. what can I do to live out my baptismal commitment more openly, more publicly, more consistent with the fact that Christianity is a distinctly communal religion never solely a private devotion……., what will I do?...…..

one thing we can do.. is to encourage someone whom we notice has intentionally changed his/ her way of life for the better, // (Notes also taken from: Prayer Time, Cycle A. Robert J. Heyer, ed. 2007)

 some ways we can put this into action…… ……. we can pray and give thanks for people involved in our regular baptisms that are undertaken in this parish..  whose names are regularly printed in the newsletter…….   We can pray for and be supportive and encouraging of our liturgy leaders, our ministers, our teachers, and catechist….  our visitors to the sick and housebound… and so many more…  … and of course…  …. Just as importantly….  …..everyone who conducts their daily lives, their family life, their jobs and any other daily activities in the intentional spirit of Jesus’ good news – is living out their Baptismal calling in a very practical way…..

May the lord who calls us to follow him into the waters of Baptism, raise us to newness of life, so that, united with Jesus, we may serve Christ by living our discipleship in everything we do and say…..   giving public witness by our love and service to all…