{"id":990,"date":"2020-01-13T11:24:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T11:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=990"},"modified":"2020-01-13T11:24:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T11:24:36","slug":"19-january-2020-a-second-sunday-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=990","title":{"rendered":"19 January 2020 (A) Second Sunday of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Epiphany,\nEcumenism, the Holy Spirit, the Sin of the World<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings). <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 First Reading<\/em> (Isaiah 49:3,\n5-6). I will make you the light of the\nnations so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. <\/em>This beautiful oracle is the\nsecond of four \u201cSongs of the Servant\u201d in the Book of Isaiah. (The others are 42:1-4,\nor 1-7; 50:4-9, or 4-11; 52:13-53:12.) The first of these was read as first\nreading in last Sunday\u2019s Mass, but the comment on it bears repeating here, as\nthe readings for both these Sundays are very closely related. Last Sunday\u2019s\nreading, the first of the Servant Songs, speaks of God\u2019s special choice of this\nservant prophet, beloved by God. As befits biblical leaders he is empowered by\nGod\u2019s Spirit. It speaks of his nature; he is gentle, but faithful to his\nmission until he has fulfilled it. It tells of the mission given him by God, a\nmission which God empowers him to carry out. He is to be a covenant of the\npeople Israel,\nto remind them of their mission. He will also be a light to the nations beyond Israel, and will release captives, captive Israel, from\ntheir bondage. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A question naturally arising is\nthe identity of the servant in the mind of the prophet, writing towards the end\nof the Babylonian exile. Opinions differ: historical Israel,\nideal Israel,\nan Old Testament person before or after the time of the poet prophet, the\nprophet author of the text himself. The servant is left unidentified, to be\nidentified by his very special personality, his choice by God and his special\nrelationship with him, his tremendous mission. His person and mission could\nstand as identifying and standing as a model for Israel, God\u2019s chosen people, with a\nworld mission, or for a chosen individual with such a mission. It would be\nfulfilled as God saw fit, and this was through God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ, as is\nmade clear at the baptism of Jesus when Jesus is anointed with the Spirit, and\nthe voice from heaven, replacing the Isaiah\u2019s word \u201cservant\u201d with \u201cSon\u201d,\ndeclares that the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning now to today\u2019s reading,\nwe perceive a certain tension between the first part and the second. In the\nfirst part God is speaking to his servant, who in the best reading is addressed\nas Israel, while in the second part the servant has a mission to Israel, as if\nthe servant is an individual rather that the collective group Israel. The Israel of the first part is the ideal Israel, the\nchosen people through which God will be glorified. The passage from the\ncollective to the personal meaning of the Servant arises from the fact that the\nservant is identified principally by his mission and person. In a verse (verse\n4) omitted in today\u2019s reading the servant expresses doubt about the\neffectiveness of his mission, that he has laboured in vain, and spent his\nstrength for nothing. God, however, supports him and tells him that he has been\nchosen from his mother\u2019s womb for a mission, not merely to restore Israel but for\na far greater one: to be a light to the (pagan) nations and to bring God\u2019s\nsalvation to the ends of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial\nPsalm <\/em>(Psalm\n39[40]). Here I am, Lord! I come to do your\nwill.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(1 Corinthians\n1:1-3). May God our Father and the Lord\nJesus Christ send you grace and peace. <\/em>With this passage we begin the\nreadings of the First Letter of St Paul to the young church at Corinth,\nreadings that will continue during the coming Sundays until the Eighth Sunday\nof the Year, at 1 Corinthians chapter 4, with later sections read at a later\ndate. This letter provides us with a lot of information on the internal life of\na young Christian community, with the problems it encountered and Paul\u2019s concern\nfor this young church. Paul wrote this letter about the year 56 AD, to a church\nhe had founded only five years previously (in 51 AD). Corinth was a large and important seaport,\nwith a mixture of races, religions, philosophies and other movements. At his\ninitial visit there Paul spent about a year and a half in his work of\nevangelization, and later had contact with the local church from Ephesus across the Adriatic Sea.\nAbout two-thirds of the population of Corinth were slaves and it is likely that\nfor the greater part the members of the Christian community were also drawn\nfrom this class or from the lower classes, although there were also learned and\nwell educated members in the community. But whatever of their social origins or\nstanding, it is clear from Paul\u2019s correspondence with them that the Corinth\ncommunity was very mentally alert, reflecting on how they could, or should,\nlive their new Christian life in their pagan surroundings. They were also given\nto disputation and to personality cult, with regard to well-known persons, such\nas Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), even Christ. In this letter Paul will have\noccasion to discuss with them many of their questions and problems. But this\ndialogue he will engage in as united with them in their belief in Christ, in\nthe Church and its mission. In the introduction to this letter, read today, he\nstresses basic truths: the Church in Corinth,\nsanctified by Christ, called with all believers to pray to the Lord Jesus\nChrist. He prays that God will send them grace and peace \u2013 a favourable\natmosphere in which problems and doubts can be resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gospel <\/em>(John\n1:29-34). Look, there is the lamb of God\nthat takes away the sin of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the Second Sunday of the Three Year Liturgical\ncycle, Year 1 (A) of the cycle in which the Gospel readings will be from the\nGospel of Mattew. But this will only begin next Sunday. We are still under the\nliturgical influence of the Feast of the Epiphany. Three great manifestations\nwere recalled by the Church for the liturgy of the feast of the Epiphany: on\nEpiphany itself the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles (the Magi), at the\nBaptism the manifestation by the Father\u2019s voice, and on the Sunday after this\n(Second of the Yearly Cycle) Jesus\u2019 manifestation of his glory at Cana. In the earlier liturgy the narrative of the wedding\nfeast at Cana was read on this the second Sunday\nof each year. It is now read on the Third Year (C) of the cycle while other\nmanifestations from the Baptism period, as in John\u2019s Gospel, are read in years\none and two (A and B) of the cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Thus, in\ntoday\u2019s reading we are in the Jordan\narea with John the Baptist, and the text speaks of the Baptist\u2019s witness\nconcerning his own status and his witness to Jesus. In the Fourth Gospel there is\nno account of the actual baptism of Jesus by John, as there is in the other\nthree gospels. Yet this reading tells of what happened there. We are not told\nto whom the Baptist\u2019s words of witness to Jesus given in this reading were\naddressed, but they are for the entire Church. He calls Jesus the Lamb of God\nwho takes away the sin of the world, as if one great sin were involved in the\nmany sins. Jesus is described as the Lamb led to the slaughter of Isaiah (53:7),\nand as the Passover Lamb offered up each year. By his death he will take away\nthe sin of the world. In this Epiphany, the Baptist manifests Jesus to the\nworld, detailing also the essential detail of his baptism at the Jordan: the\nSpirit coming down on Jesus and remaining on him. He stresses this point by\nrepeating it, an emphasis in keeping with that of the other three Gospels and\nthe Acts of the Apostles. This same Spirit will be given as a gift to the\nChurch by Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. The Bible in\nDialogue with Questions of the Day. Reflection and Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Epiphany, Ecumenism, the\nHoly Spirit, the Sin of the World.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Sunday\u2019s liturgy we are still under the influence of the spirit of the Epiphany, and also of ecumenism as we draw near to the feast of the Conversion of St Paul (25 January) and the prayers for the Church Unity Octave that accompany it. The Magi who visited the new-born Jesus, king of the Jews, were representative of a non-Jewish pagan people, a people looking forward to redemption by God. The answer would come with the resurrection of Jesus and his command to have to the good news preached to the ends of the earth. In our own day churches conscious of the divisions among themselves are seeking ways of coming closer together. In the early days of this ecumenical movement, the Catholic Church believed it arose from, or would foster, indifferentism in religion, and remained aloof from it, until it too came to realize that this movement was from the Holy Spirit and is now actively engaged in this quest for greater unity. From the epiphany at the Baptism of Jesus onwards, the Holy Spirit has been revealing Jesus to the world more and more, and in our own day continues to do so. We now experience a lively dialogue between lay society and the Church. The Church is often accused of being alien to the mind, the values and the aspirations of the world in which we live. A word that is scarcely mentioned from the lay side in all this dialogue is the word \u201csin\u201d. Practices and teachings of the Church are criticised, and frequent references are made to Christ, as if the Church were not faithful to his teaching and mission, omitting any connection between Christ and sin, Christ the Lamb of God who reveals, shows up, and takes away sin, the sin of the world. In this ongoing dialogue between the Church and contemporary society the many message of the Epiphany and the Baptism of Christ should be borne in mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Epiphany, Ecumenism, the Holy Spirit, the Sin of the World  The Bible as Guide in … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":991,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}