Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Conversations with Consequences Podcast, January 14, 2023

Fr. Roger J. Landry
Conversations with Consequences Podcast
Homily for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, A, Vigil
January 14, 2023

To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below: 

The following text guided the homily: 

• This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a joy to have a chance to ponder with you the consequential conversation God wants to have with us this Sunday as we enter into Ordinary Time. On Monday this week, we celebrated the end of the Christmas Season with the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, in which with the help of St. Matthew, we pondered the objective details of the baptism of Jesus that began his public ministry: John the Baptist’s protest that he wasn’t worthy to baptize the Lord; Jesus’ insisting that it had to occur to fulfill all righteousness; the Holy Spirit’s coming down on Jesus visibly like a dove; and God the Father’s voice thundering from heaven, “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” This Sunday we revisit the same scene, but look at it from the perspective, more or less, of St. John the Baptist, whom St. John the Evangelist seemed to be following up until that point. And we see something surprising if not shocking: the Baptist says that that the whole reason for his mission, the point of his life, the purpose for which he was baptizing with water at the Jordan, was so that he would be able to indicate the one who was coming after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. And when that long-awaited person came, the Baptist didn’t cry out, “Behold the Lord!,” “Behold the Messiah!,” “Look! The Son of God!,” “Here is the Savior, the King of Jews and King of Kings, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Light of the World, the Resurrection and the Life,” — or any of the other fitting titles that would have filled his listeners with awe at the incredible majesty of the One whose sandal strap John was indicating he wasn’t worthy to untie. Instead he used an expression that was not majestic at all: “Behold the Lamb of God!”

• We have grown so accustomed to the phrase “Lamb of God” — which we use in the Gloria, sing three times in the Agnus Dei, and hear the priest say when, echoing the very words of John the Baptist, he holds Jesus in his elevated hands as tells us to behold him — that many of us no longer sense what the Jews would have felt when the Baptist referred to Jesus in this way. Imagine, however, a young child just hitting the age of reason, or an adult from a remote village and culture totally unaware of Christian theology, were at Church one morning and the priest said about Jesus, “Look! There is the pigeon of heaven!” Or “behold the squirrel of the Almighty!” Their immediate reaction would likely be similar to that of many Jews to Jesus when they heard him referred to by the term lamb. Lambs aren’t high on our list of beloved and admired animals. They’re not noted for their strength or looks. They’re not impressive like elephants or tigers, stallions, bears or eagles. Yet John the Baptist said the whole reason he was alive was to point the Messiah out using that very expression. Why? What does it mean? Why does God call us to relate to Jesus in that way? How is it supposed to influence our faith and day-to-day life?
• For a Jew, even though a lamb was not a particularly impressive animal, it did have a very important purpose in Jewish life. More than any other animal, it was the one traditionally chosen to sacrifice to God. And Jesus absolutely identified with this means of oblation and expiation. He associated himself with the lamb sacrificed by Abel that was pleasing to God; with the lamb that God provided for Abraham’s sacrifice so that Isaac his son wouldn’t die; with the lambs whose blood was placed on the lintels of the Jews during the Passover; with the lambs that were offered each day to God in the Temple — as many as 256,000 in a year, or 700 a day, according to Jewish historian Josephus — in atonement for sins. Jesus assimilated in himself the identity and sacrificial purpose of the Lamb in Jewish mentality to become precisely the acceptable sacrifice offered to the Lord to take away the sins not just of the Jews but of the whole world. Beholding Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Jews were being invited to see something far greater at work than just a recently-arrived carpenter from Nazareth, but the fulfillment of all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, the realization of the much-prophesied work of the long-awaited One. They were being challenged to see in Jesus something far greater than met the eye. And through the Baptist’s words and work, they were being called by God to relate to Jesus under this title, to see him as the great scapegoat who had come to save them from the sins that would self-alienate them from God forever.
• It is absolutely key for us, therefore, if we’re going to relate to Jesus as he truly is, to relate to him as the Lamb of God. When we’re given a snapshot of heaven, it’s clear that those in eternity relate to Jesus in this way. In the Book of Revelation, when St. John sees in a vision the drama of salvation history and has a glimpse of the celestial liturgy, we behold that before the throne of God the Father there is a “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain,” and before whom those in heaven were falling down singing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” and “to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and power forever and ever!” (Rev 5:6, 12-13). 24 times in Revelation John refers to Jesus by the title of Lamb. The Lamb is the one who opens the seven seals. The Lamb is the one before whom the redeemed, wearing white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb with palm branches in their hand, cry out “Salvation comes from our God … and from the Lamb.” The Lamb is the one who leads them to the springs of life-giving water and wipes away their tears. The Lamb is the owner of the Book of life. The Lamb is the one whom the virgins follow wherever he goes. The Lamb is the one who is the lamp and light of the Holy City. The Lamb is the one whose wedding feast is the whole substance of heaven.
• To learn to relate to Jesus as Lamb is crucial for this life and eternal life. Many of us think we do, because we’re familiar with the title and even recite it multiple times in each liturgy. But while we certainly know about Jesus as Lamb of God, we are all called humbly to get to know him personally much better through relating to him as Lamb. What are the practical consequences of relating to Jesus in this way?
• First, it should influence the way we pray. To pray to Jesus as the Lamb of God means that we recognize that we’re sinners in need of him to take away our sins and pray to him to intercede for us before God the Father’s throne.
• Second, it should change the way we relate to the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession, which he instituted to take away our sins that we have committed prior to and post baptism. Many Catholics sadly do not behold the Lamb in this way nearly enough, they do not come to look him in the merciful face, but rather live with their sins and often, it seems sadly, die in their sins. As Pope Francis continuously calls us, Christ has come mercifully to take away the sins of the world and we should never to tire of asking for the mercy God never tires to give.
• Third, relating to Jesus as Lamb must impact the way we approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Just like the ancient Jews needed to eat the Passover lamb in order to enter fully into the first Covenant, so we have to eat the Lamb to enter fully into the new and eternal Covenant. How blessed we are to be called to the supper of the Lamb!
• Fourth, relating to Jesus as Lamb means announcing him as Lamb, to become, like St. John the Baptist, precursors pointing Jesus out to our family members, friends and contemporaries. Many don’t believe they really need Jesus, that they’re sinners desperate for a Savior. This is one of the great triumphs of the devil in the modern world. That’s why in every generation, especially ours, we need to point out Jesus as the Lamb. People’s eternal salvation depends on relating to Jesus in this way! During these days we thank the Lord in a particular way for how both Pope Benedict XVI and Australian Cardinal George Pell fearlessly proclaimed how much we need Christ as Savior.
• Lastly, relating to Jesus as Lamb means that we develop a sensitivity to all those who are led to the slaughter, are suffering, are hurting, or are in particular need. During his public ministry, the Lamb of God announced that he was also the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in his arms, who protects them from the wolves, who goes out after anyone who is lost to take them back to the fold. Beholding the Lamb is meant to make us more capable of beholding him as he suffers in the members of his body.
• The end of the Book of Revelation, which features the Lamb sitting on the throne, describes how many will “make war on the Lamb.” There is a real battle, with eternal stakes, in which the enemy is seeking to have us not relate to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, not to pray to him, not to confess, not to receive him worthily, not to proclaim him, not to recognize and defend him in others. But Revelation tells us, “The Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings.” On Sunday, we who have been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb, will be strengthened to follow the Lamb wherever he leads and to help the whole world to relate to Jesus under that title. On Sunday we will have the awesome privilege not just behold the Lamb of God indicated by John who takes away the sins of the world, but eat the Lamb, as we joyfully echo on earth the eternal song of the angels and saints in heaven: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and praise … forever and ever! Amen.” God bless you!

The Gospel passage on which the homily was based was: