Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 15, 2017

First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34

The readings for this second Sunday in Ordinary Time all have to do with our calling and our incorporation into Christ Jesus, our Lord. When I first looked at the passages in preparation for writing the Bible study for this week, I was kind of in the “check” mode. The Reading 1 from Isaiah 49, part of the Servant Song in Isaiah, prophecy about Jesus the Servant, CHECK. The Responsorial Psalm 40, another prophecy about Jesus as the one who has come to do God the Father’s will, gladly, willingly from the heart, CHECK. Reading 2, the introductory paragraph to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, hmmm, okay, not as meaty as the other passages and I am not sure how it relates but, hey, I’ll figure it out later, I do see we are called to be holy, that has possibilities, CHECK. The Alleluia, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, to those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” Interesting, CHECK. The Gospel, John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the preexistent one upon whom the Spirit descended upon and remained, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now this is starting to get exciting. CHECK.

Fast forward to the middle of the week, to the middle of the night, I have kind of been going through a time of mild depression, wondering whether I matter and whether what I do matters. So I am lying awake and I decide to take a look at the readings again, to begin piecing them together into this week’s study. So I grab my smart phone and go to the USCCB website and tap this coming Sunday on their readings calendar. The readings pop up and my eyes alight on the first phrase in the Isaiah passage and I read, “The Lord said to me: You are my servant…”. And I got the distinct impression the Lord was talking to me, applying this passage to me. And I thought I better check this out and see what the Church has to say about this, I don’t want to become heretical or anything but that impression also seems to line up this Sunday’s passages into a unified whole.

And I thought to myself, how am I going to check this out against the teachings of the Church? Do I have to sift through the writings of the early church fathers? I know I’ll use that Barnes & Noble gift card that I got for Christmas to buy the Nook version of the Didache Bible where writers like Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn cross-referenced the Bible to the Catechism as a commentary.

Wow! I found out my impression was on target because the Catechism and really these passages point to the same thing. Namely, that since we have been incorporated by our faith and baptism into the Church, Christ’s Body, God’s family, our mission is the same as our Head, Jesus. And so the Isaiah passage really applies to us and the Psalm really apply to us as well because we are part of His body.

So here is the Reading 1 and read it applying it to yourself.

“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.”

Are you skeptical? Does it seem too awesome to be true?

Here are some of the paragraph cross-references to the Catechism in the Didache Bible for this passage.

713 The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the “Servant songs.” These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus’ Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our “form as slave.” Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature” (AG 2).

Now here’s the Psalm.

(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 I am, 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.

And here is one of the references to the Catechism.

2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say: “I always do what is pleasing to him.” In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: “not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

And now the 2nd reading.

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.

And some of the Catechism references.

823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”
867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is “the sinless one made up of sinners.” Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.
1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” “sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,” Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.”

And all these passages and reference tie into the Alleluia and the Gospel.

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.

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.”

So I guess God really does have a purpose and a mission for me and for you. We are not unimportant.   We are His servants, His body, His children and we are called to be holy, to grow into being His children and to be lights to a dark world.
Prayerfully ponder these things