Commentary
Sunday, 1/15/2017, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
A Light to the Nations for Salvation
First Reading Commentary Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
When Christians think of who God is, we think of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We think of the Father as the Almighty Creator who made all things. We think of the Son as our Savior and King who brings justice. He is the Alpha and Omega through whom the Father created all things. And, finally, there is the Spirit who showers us with His gifts which provide us with faith, strength, courage and all of the tools that we need to attain salvation.
When we think of God as one God, we think of His infinite love for us which is shown by His endless mercy and forgiveness. And when we pray, we find ourselves always asking for God’s mercy and forgiveness because we are sinners and we ask God to honor the requests within our intentions because we are always in need.
All of this says something which is very profound about God which we do not always stop to think about. God is our servant. He aims to serve us, protect us, take care of us and lead us to Him.
That is the message of today’s prophecy from Isaiah. In this prophecy, the Son speaks and says, “The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory.” Scripture said that the Son would be a descendant of Abraham which; would make Him a Jew and here the Son identified Himself with Israel.
But what is important is that the Son also identifies Himself as the Father’s servant and through Him, the Father’s glory is shown. The Son tells us that He is the servant formed from the womb and He is made glorious in the sight of the LORD who is His strength. The Son is confirming that He is the offspring of the woman in Genesis 3:15.
The Son also announces the reason for His coming which is to bring salvation. The Son proclaims that He is the Saving Light that will reach all nations. This means that even though the Son was born a Jew, He came to save us all and in this prophecy, the Son tells us that He came to serve all of mankind by saving us all from sin.
The high priest Simeon, who prayed that he might see the Messiah before he died, knew that this prophecy from Isaiah was being fulfilled at the Presentation of Jesus to the Temple. Simeon said in Luke 2:29-32, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace…my eyes have seen your salvation…a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
It is very clear in Simeon’s testimony that he was not afraid to die. In fact, Simeon was prepared to die whenever God said that it was time.
God gave us our lives to enjoy and God wants us to live our lives to the fullest. However, God also wants us to have faith in the Son’s Light so that we will be ready to answer His call whenever He is ready to call us home to heaven.
Called to Be Saints
Second Reading Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
In each of the letters that St. Paul writes, he says a lot more than hello in his greetings. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he begins by saying that he was called, by Christ Jesus to be an Apostle. Paul was making it clear that it was by God’s Will that he was writing to them and therefore, he was bringing them the Word of God.
Paul goes on to say that the Church and all those who are members of the Church are sanctified and called to be holy. In other words, we are called to live a life which is favorable to God so that we can become saints. That does not mean that each of us lives a life of public notoriety which will lead to the Vatican declaring us to be saints by canonizing us. It means that we live a life of notoriety to God which will lead to our being accepted by Him into His Kingdom of Heaven and that is what matters.
Where today’s prophecy from Isaiah tells us that God serves us, Paul is telling us that we are called to serve God by following His Commandments. The message of Paul’s letter is written to the Corinthians but it is for everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus as their Lord. In effect, Paul’s message is for Christians everywhere.
When Paul gets to the actual greeting within his salutation, he delivers it with a prayer. He says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In short, Paul greets all of us by saying, “God bless you.” What a way to say hello.
We do not normally stop to think of it as a prayer when we say, “Grace to you” or “Peace be with you” or “God bless you.” But anytime we say something like that to someone, we are offering a prayer of intercession for them. We are asking God, in one way or another, to do something for that person or group of people.
Such statements should come from the heart and should not be taken lightly. A simple “God bless you” behind someone sneezing should be more than something courteous to say. Why? Because: we are serving that person by asking God to bestow His blessing on them.
When it comes from the heart, we are also serving God by following the Second Greatest Commandment of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. We have to love our neighbor if we are going to love God which is the First Greatest Commandment. But instead of saying that to the Corinthians, Paul practiced it with his greeting. Paul demonstrates to us that a simple phrase like “Peace be with you” is not so simple when it comes from the heart—it is one thing that will put us on the path to sainthood.
Behold, the Lamb of God
Gospel Commentary John 1:29-34
“…restore the survivors of Israel” is a line taken from today’s prophecy from Isaiah. It means that the LORD’s servant will put the survivors of Israel back into God’s favor. It means that their sins, will be forgiven by the LORD’s servant. “Israel” does not stand for a country or a place on earth. “Israel” is a term which includes all of God’s children who believe. John the Baptist proclaimed that this prophecy was fulfilled when he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus made Himself the Lamb that was sacrificed when He submitted Himself to the cross and by His blood, our sins were nailed to the cross forever. Sin is death because it prohibits us from achieving eternal life in heaven. But when Jesus took our sins to the cross and then rose from the cross, He defeated death and prepared the path for us to follow. Jesus is the Light which shows us the way to heaven and all we have to do is follow.
But Jesus taking our sins to the cross is only part of the process which begins with Baptism. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, our original sin as well as the sins that we have committed up to the time of our baptism; are washed away and the Holy Spirit descends upon us.
John the Baptist testified that the one who sent him to baptize with water said to him, “On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” John saw the Spirit come down and remain on Jesus and testified that Jesus is the Son of God.
With his baptism, John the Baptist encouraged people to repent for their sins. But John the Baptist knew that those who would be baptized through the Sacrament of Baptism, would have their sins taken away and forgiven and because only God can forgive sins, Jesus was the Son of God.
The Sacrament of Baptism was instituted by Jesus when He was baptized Himself by John the Baptist. Baptism was instituted a second time when Jesus instructed His Apostles to go and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s liturgy is all about service—God serving us and us serving God. We have the better end of the deal! All we have to do is follow the Light of the Son by obeying the Commandments.
How many of us are willing to give our only son so that the world could be free from sin? If we wanted to, we could not make such a sacrifice because we are all sinners. The sins of the world had to be taken away by the offspring who was without sin as was promised in Genesis 3:15. That is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
