Pastor's Letter 20230115 - 15 January 2023 - Getting to Know Jesus

[Father Michael]

January 15^th, 2023

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary ‘Time

A Message from Father ^_†Michael

Today’s Theme:  “Getting to Know Jesus”

Reflections on Today’s Scripture

(Isaiah 49: 3-6)  The Mission of the Lord’s servant— responsibility for bringing light and light to the nations—has been delegated to all who call themselves followers of Jesus. 

Isaiah’s "Servant Song" was intended to bring hope to those Israelites exiled to Babylon, and think of themselves as a “servant” nation.  Early Christians looked to the Old Testament to find these texts with which they substantiated their faith in Jesus.  Jesus extended Salvation to the ends of the earth by His sacrifice on the Cross.  

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(1 Corinthians1:1-3)  Survivors of darkness and sin are called to celebrate their blessings in Christ.   

^†Paul reminds the Christians at Corinth, and indeed, all Christians, that we have a personal relationship with Christ, so intimate and so all encompassing, as to empower us to become like Christ.  His saving gifts of grace, pace, joy and reconciliation are to be valued as blessings from the Father, bestowed on us because of, and in Christ.   

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(John 1:29-34)  Christianity is in a continual process of survival and celebration.  Those who recognize the salvation affected by Jesus are graced with His victory and light. 

^†John’s Gospel bears witness to the higher Christology of the late first century Church, and has made the Baptizer enunciate His several Messianic titles: “Lamb of God,” “God’s chosen One,” and “He is to be baptize with the Holy Spirit.”  Thus his work is seen as preparation for, rather than salvation by the Messiah.  Jesus offered the world a sacrament where those who believed entered with Him into death and emerged with Him, victorious over sin, to live forever.

Recognizing Jesus

At the outset of ^†John’s Gospel, we find Jesus having appeared upon the public “stage.”  ^†John the Baptist identifies Him as “God’s chosen One,” a role He did not take upon Himself.  He was called by God and sent by God, and once the call came, He made a total gift of Himself to it.  From that time on, He sought not His own honor, but the honor of His Father, seeing not “to BE served, but to serve all mankind.  

Through our Baptism, we are all called to be disciples of Jesus.  This is not only a great honor, but a great privilege, as well.  We must always remember it is a call to service.  We need the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts, in order not to make ourselves the center of our world.  We must put our gifts at the service of others, not just of ourselves.  

In our society, being chosen always implies that others are not chosen.  This is not true for God.  God chose His Son, and His disciples to reveal to us that we too, are chosen.  In the Kingdom of God there is no room for competition or rivalry.  In the Kingdom, each person is precious and unique.  

Taking Away Our Sins

Jesus takes away our sins, in the sense that through Him, we have forgiveness for them, and so are able to put them behind us.  When we are forgiven, a very real load, a great burden, is lifted from us, and we are able to go forward, freely and joyfully.

But we also must accept responsibility for our sins.  And, even when we are forgiven, everything doesn’t magically come right for us. We don’t suddenly become new people.  Our old weaknesses, habits and compulsions are still with us, meaning we still have to struggle.  

Sin is not an “object” that can be removed from us.  Rather, it is a “condition,” one of blindness and woundedness, in which we all find ourselves damaged and broken.  Truly, we are a sinful people.  Yet, our sinfulness is not the same as our sins.  The first is the disease, whereas, the second, is the symptom.  We live in a “condition of sin,” from which we need redemption.  That is why Jesus came, redeemed us, and enabled us to live a new life.  

Jesus compels sinners to change their way of life not by condemning them and keeping His distance from them, but by becoming their true friend.  He puts us in touch with that core of goodness that exists in all of us.  Through His own luminous goodness, he evokes goodness in us.  

If we wish to overcome sin, evil must be subdued by goodness.  This is why the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) is so powerful.  In it, we can experience Jesus’ love for us…in our sins.  Rather than an impersonal ridding of sins, it is an encounter with Jesus, our Savior, Who calls us away from sin, to life’s goodness.  When we find it, in ourselves, we more readily will find it in others, too.

We must keep in mind that the whole human family is damaged because of sin, thus, there exists social sin and social redemption.  Jesus came to bring us back into a relationship with God and with one another.  

Victory over sin comes about as a lifelong struggle.  We must resist despairing when we discover how little progress we make along the way.  What is important is the struggle for goodness.  The purpose of life is not to win the battle, but to wage it, unceasingly.

May God Richly Bless You!

Come, Holy Spirit, Still My Heart.docx