St. John the Baptist by Titian: it was not unusual for the Baptist to be imaged pointing away from himself to Christ.
Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34
Do you remember being taught: It’s not nice to point!
I wonder if children are still taught that lesson in manners.
But right here in the gospel
we find John the Baptist in a serious breach of good manners:
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”
You can just see John’s finger pointing towards Jesus!
The question of whether or not it’s polite to point,
and in particular to point to Jesus, is very much alive today.
It’s interesting that the words polite and political
derive from the same root
and it’s interesting to watch politicians pointing impolitely to Jesus
in hopes of winning voters to their side.
(John, of course, points to Jesus not to advance his own cause
but to direct all attention to the One who came before him.)
How about us?
Do we find ways to point to Christ in our daily lives?
Maybe not so much.
Pointing to Jesus to others is not politically correct
but even those who don’t worry about being politically correct
may feel uncomfortable pointing to Jesus in public,
fearing that doing so might draw too much attention to themselves.
But there are ways we point to others that are acceptable.
Most parents enjoy bragging about their children’s accomplishments:
how well they’re doing in school, in sports,
with their particular talents…
But I wonder how many parents would feel free to point out
to someone at work:
Ya know, my kid served Mass on Sunday morning
and I was so proud to see my child helping at the altar.
That’s much different than telling someone,
I was at the field on Saturday and my kid played a great game!
In one case, we acknowledge we went to a game;
in the other we ‘fess up that we went to church – and enjoyed it!
Most of us would feel free to mention a good concert we went to
or a great CD we just bought,
but how many of us would feel free to point out to someone at work,
Wow! This song we sang at church on the weekend was so beautiful.
I couldn’t get the tune out of my head all day!
Many of us would easily to recommend to others
a good book we read or an article we came across in a magazine
but how man of us would feel free to point out to others
(now, I’m going to make a bit of stretch here!)
“At Mass this weekend the homily was awesome.
For a minute I thought the priest was speaking right to me.
I’m not suggesting that any of us stand on a street corner, preaching.
I’m just wondering how many of us are open
to even broaching the possibility of sharing something -anything-
of our spiritual lives with others…?”
A recent Google survey reported that in the year 2007
the most Googled Who is…? question was, Who is God?
Who would have guessed that?
More people than we may suspect are wondering about God
and beginning a conversation about things spiritual
might be a really good thing to begin.
Why are we so reluctant, even afraid, of sharing with others,
pointing out to them, some of the realities
most dear to our hearts and lives?
Every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist,
we hear the words,
This is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Happy are those who are called to his supper.
Are we happy enough to let even one person this week know
that we were here?
that we have a spiritual life which brings us some measure of peace?
It’s true: It’s not nice to point…
unless we point to Jesus, the Lamb of God,
and how he touches our hearts and lives.
-ConcordPastor
I have a question- it doesn't exactly have to do with this post, but I have been thinking about it... When we say, 'Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.' What is 'the word'?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Elizabethsaid-
ReplyDeleteWow, such a good question. I am pretty much a C&E/Funeral/Wedding Catholic and when I read this aloud at a Mass, I too have paused and wondered "what is the word"?
Concordpastor?
My thoughts are, that "the word" is the will of God. I have always thought that we were turning ourselves over to God's will by basically saying, "I believe that if you, God, say so, it will be so"
ReplyDeleteSo, if God wants us to be worthy of receiving him, he only need to say so, and all of our sins will be forgiven and we will have a chance at everlasting life!
The prayer comes from the gospel story of the centurian. He was asking Jesus to cure his servant . He was "unworthy" because in those days it was considered unclean for Jews to enter the home of a gentile. Yet he had FAITH that Jesus would cure his servant. It's a testamony of our faith when we say these words before communion. I believe the healing "word" we are asking for may be different for all of us. We're asking for whatever it is we need to heal us at that particular moment.
ReplyDeleteAnne
I never changed to the new (40 years ago?) way. I say "Lord, I am not worthy, but only say the word and my soul will be healed." Thank you, Anne, for the explanation. I never had questioned it. Just thought that if we asked Jesus to heal us, He would.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about this last night and I remembered a hymn that used to be sung quite often. I haven't heard it in years. "O, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come to me. But speak the words of comfort, my spirit healed shall be."
ReplyDelete