2014/02/02 - Homily - 4th ord. Sunday

With these readings / we entering into the ordinary time of the Liturgical Year. After the great celebrations of Christmas, from the birth of Jesus, his epiphany, the revelation of his divinity for the whole of mankind to the wise men,  Jesus is baptized by John. Jesus is portrayed as a man, but his divinity comes from God.  In Jesus, God himself is coming for a special mission. And his special mission was firstly revealed by John.

Nowadays too, the Jesus has so many followers, showing that Christ still has a special mission. But WHAT IS that mission?

 

“seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said :
« There is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world »

The mission of Jesus-Christ is to take away the sins of the world. What a Great mission that is!  We repeat this phrase three times during mass, just before we recieve Holy communion: the body and blood of Christ. This sentence reminds us that we are sinners, but, it ALSO reminds us that Christ is stronger than our sins…. Because he takes them away!   This phrase also reminds us of our mission.

When we hear and receive such great words, they are not only for us; such good news is also for the whole world and it is OUR mission to share this.

We heard this in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah.  And it is like this every time when God has something to say to his people, the people of Israël.  He « put » his words into the mouths of prophets. In this, passage we read: « It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, so that my salvation  may reach to the ends of the earth »

The « Light of the nations » is the Messiah announced by Isaiah, as well as Christ’s disciples – which means us -  just as we are today with our faith, our doubts, our questioning, our lives and God, of course. We are witnesses to that, and we are called to be active witnesses, bringing this good news to all mankind. Salvation, by taking away of the sins of the world, is coming to us every day.  Today too.  It is not only our job to understand that for ourselves. We have to do something following the Bibles’ invitation to be disciples and witnesses.

We can do it in two ways. First by drawing inner strength from of our Christian reality.  For the Old Testament, the aim was to restore the tribes  of Jacob / weakened by successive deportations and permanent conflict. For us, this first aim is sharing the Church’s mission to develop communion between the different churches.

The second aim meanwhile is to bring the good news to those who don’t yet  know Christ, the « Light of the nations »

How? By remembering that God loves all men, even those who don’t know him.  This means the stranger is my brother, my friend, firstly in a spiritual, general way and secondly, in a very real, concrete way, as a consequence of the spiritual meaning.

In the Asian and Taoist cultures, there are three circles in which a relationship can by defined.  The first circle includes the family, parents and children, grand-parents and grand children.  The second circle is made up of close friends. The third circle is made up of those who are not in the other two circles.  It is made up of those who don’t really exist for those who are in the first and the second circles.  Even though they exist for themselves just as we exist, they aren’t member’s of family or friends.

The Christian mission is to reveal the light of the nations to everyone. We CAN do it, because everybody is invited to accept each other, as a spiritual friend.  This really is a great challenge for us every wherever  we live. Following the Bible’s invitation,  it is a great challenge to our mission.  Such is God’s desire for us.  God, who by his own unique Beloved  Son takes away the sins of the world. 

And for that / we work as witnesses of such light / for the salvation of all. We know in the Christian faith that we receive such a calling to become missionaries. And we also  know that people  who  have never heard  about the genuine Love of God and about his salvation, can also be saved through his own good will  and  his  own right conscience (St Paul and Vat II)

Christ, light of the nations, saves in such a way.  But he waits for us to be his good, joyful and faithful witness and to accept him as our Lord and Savior.       

           AMEN !