Desire for Heaven and Desire for Sanctity Second Sunday Ordinary Time Year A

Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

            In today’s gospel passage, John the Baptist looks at Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”

         The term Lamb of God is, comments Pitre, a reference to both the Passover Lamb that the Jewish people sacrificed every year to recall the time God freed them from their enslavement in Egypt and the term Lamb of God is a reference to Isaiah’s prophecy of a suffering servant who would suffer on behalf of the people and, in so doing, free the people from their sins. 

         In chapter fifty-three of Isaiah, describing the suffering servant prophecies: “Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 4-5)

         By saying that Jesus existed before him, John the Baptist is affirming Jesus’ divinity. This is clear since, as we know from Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist was conceived and born six months before Jesus. (Luke 1:24, 26, 57) Jesus’ human birth came after John the Baptist’s birth, but Jesus’ existence preceded John the Baptist, because Jesus, as the Son of God, has always existed. How did John the Baptist know Jesus existed before him and always existed? John the Baptist knew that Jesus existed before him and always existed by the Holy Spirit who inspired John the Baptist to proclaim this revealed truth.

         Another interesting detail about John the Baptist’s relationship with Jesus is that although John the Baptist is Jesus’ cousin, he did not grow up with Jesus. As Luke’s Gospel indicates, after John the Baptist was born, John “grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” (Luke 1:80) Despite not growing up with Jesus, John the Baptist recognized Jesus for who Jesus is because John the Baptist was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

         May we be inspired by John the Baptist who gave himself completely to following God’s will, to following the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul, in the second reading, emphasizes our calling by God to likewise adhere to God’s will and follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit by stating that Christians, including those in the city of Corinth, “have been sanctified in Christ Jesus” and are “called to be holy”, in other words to be saints, so that glorifying God we will be received into heaven..

         If I were asked, “Do I want to go to heaven?” I would immediately respond, “Yes, I want to go to heaven.” However, if I am asked, as Pitre writes about, “Do I want to be a saint?” I will not respond so quickly with a yes. Perhaps, some of you have a similar response. It is worth reflecting on why some of us will enthusiastically assert that we want to go to heaven but are less enthusiastic about becoming saints.^[1]

         Holiness is the condition to be received into heaven. If we truly want to go to heaven, then, out of love for God and neighbor and not for self-glorification, we also need to want to be holy, to want to be saints. 

         Holy Spirit, send your grace into our hearts so that we will be less resistant to your inspirations, to be more firmly committed to do God’s holy will, and to desire holiness out of love of God and love of our brothers and sisters.

            May the Lord Bless You All – Father Peter

---

^[1] Brant Pitre, “The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A),” catholicproductions.com.