Homily for the Second Sunday of the Year
(A) (15th January, 2017) on the Gospel
Is 49:3.5-6;Ps 39:2.4.7-10 (R. vv.8.9)
1Cor 1: 1-3;
Jn 1:29-34.
One day, a young man went to pay utility bills but could
not be attended to immediately. As he waited for his turn, the cashier asked
him: “Please, are you a seminarian?” And he said no. She continued to attend to
other customers but after some time, she asked him another question: “Or are
you in a mission school?” To this the young man also said no. She also asked
him other questions but the young man did not admit being any of the things she
thought he was. When the cashier had exhausted the possible places she thought
he could have come from, she began to accuse him of lying to her. At this point,
the young man asked her of the reason/s behind all her questions. She simply told
him that after observing his behaviour from the time he arrived she was not in
doubt he was from one of the places she mentioned. According to her, his
behaviour contradicted what she observed every day. Just before leaving her
office, he told her: “I am a seminarian. Although I did not want to hide my
identity but I wanted to observe how things are done outside the four walls of
the seminary. I am so sorry for the inconveniences. God bless you”.
Topic: “… this
is the Son of God” (Jn 1:34).
In the gospel we
read: “… Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is
he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was
before me” (vv. 29-30). One can
easily conclude that John was able to know Jesus and to testify because he was
a prophet. But he went on to say in verse 31: “I myself did not know him ….” He repeated this very statement in
verse 33 but something made him to know him: “… but the one who sent me to
baptise with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and
remain is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’” (v.33). He never knew him but when he saw the signs he concluded
“this is the Son of God” (v. 34). This
testimony of Saint John the Baptist calls for a sober reflection.
We read in Saint
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: “for in Christ Jesus you [Christians] are all
sons of God, through faith” (Gal 3:26).
Again, in his letter to the Romans we also read: “…all who are led by the
Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom 8:14).
We enter into Christ Jesus through the sacrament of Baptism because we are baptized
into Jesus Christ, cf. Rom 6:3; Gal 3:27.
Through the sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us, cf. Acts 2:38; 1Cor 3:16.
Hence, Saint
Paul’s letter to the Romans reads: “But you are not in the flesh, you are in
the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom 8:9). That is if the Holy Spirit is not in us, we cannot claim
to be children of God. And there is no midway between being in the flesh and being
in the Spirit because being in the Spirit excludes one from the flesh and vice
versa. One must be either in the Spirit or in the flesh, cf. Gal 5:16-26.
Because it will
be easy for one to say that he or she is in the Spirit and that the other person
is in the flesh, let us consider briefly what it means to be in the Spirit and
what it means to be in the flesh. In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul wrote:
...the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be
guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one
another, envying one another (Gal
5:22-26).
On the
contrary, the fruits of the flesh include: “… fornication, impurity,
licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels,
dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” (Gal 5:19-21).
It is important
to note that it is in the Holy Spirit that Christians are sealed for the day of
redemption, cf. Eph 4:30. This is
because those who are in the flesh cannot please God, Rom 8:8. Saint Paul advices us to “… walk by the Spirit, and do not
gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal
5:16). It is “by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath
for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed”
(Rom 2:5). According to the prophet
Zephaniah, “A day of wrath is … a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin
and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick
darkness” (Zeph 1:15). Isaiah asks
us to "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near”
(Is 55:6).
My dear brothers/sisters
in the Lord, considering these and many more, it is left for each and every one
of us to know whether he or she is in the Spirit or in the flesh. We are to be
known by our fruits and not by what we put on or what we answer, cf. Matt 7:16, 20. If John the Baptist who
did not know Jesus saw him and was able to recognise Him, then those who did
not know us should be able to recognise us when they see us because of the same
Holy Spirit in us. One must be spiritual to be able to receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit, cf. 1Cor 2:14.
Bible Readings: Zeph 1:14-18; 1Cor 4:1-12; Eph
5:3-20; Rom 8:1-17; 12:1-21; Col 3:1-4:1; Gal 5:16-26; Heb 2:1-4.
Thought for today: Can someone who did not know you testify on seeing you
that you are a child of God (Christian)?
Let us Pray: Lord, give us the grace to be always your children
we are called to be in thoughts, words and in actions – Amen!
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May God
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