Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Just under a fortnight ago, we were celebrating the Epiphany. As I’m sure we

all know, the wise men brought the Christ-child three gifts: gold, frankincense

and myrrh. And as the hymn We Three Kings points out, gold honours Christ as

king, frankincense points to His divinity, and myrrh to His future burial.

“Glorious now behold him arise, King and God and sacrifice.” Today we’ve

fast-forwarded a bit, to the scene of St John the Baptist pointing out Christ at

the River Jordan. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the

world!” But why does he refer to Him as the Lamb of God?

Well, for one thing, it sounds a bit better than just saying “Behold a nice

person”. It also connects in with all the imagery in the Old Testament. When

the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, before God liberated them they were

instructed to celebrate the Passover meal, which included the slaughter of a

lamb. Its blood had to be spread on the doorposts and lintel of the outside door,

so that the Angel of Death would pass over their houses, whilst in the homes of

the Egyptians, the first-born sons would die. Through the death of the lamb,

which was then eaten, the Israelites were saved by God from the Egyptians, and

led to the Promised Land.

Years later, Christ was to reveal to them all the meaning of this meal and bring

it to fulfilment. He celebrated the first Mass during the Last Supper, a Passover

meal. Whilst they were thinking about the slaughtered lamb, sacrificed so they

could have freedom, Our Lord suddenly did something different. He “took

bread, ... said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take this, all of you and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up

for you.” They must have all been wondering what was going on. My Child’s

Bible when I was growing up added the embellishment that the sacrificial lamb

was missing from the table, perhaps trying to drive home the point that Christ

was the fulfilment of all of this, and that He was now going to be the Lamb

sacrificed for the salvation of the world. Just like Aslan in The Lion, the Witch

and the Wardrobe died in Edmund’s place, just as the ram, a male sheep, was

sacrificed by Abraham in place of Isaac, so Christ died in place of us sinners to

reconcile us to the Father.

So the Passover meal continued, and, at the end, now Christ took the “chalice”.

Giving thanks to the Father, He said the blessing, and gave it to his disciples,

saying:

“Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the

Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and

for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

They’ve been celebrating the covenant between God and the people of Israel,

which came to them via Moses, but now Christ speaks of a “new” covenant,

which will never come to an end. It is eternal. And the Blood of this covenant

will be poured out so that sins may be forgiven. We look to the Cross where

this took place. Christ’s Body and Blood were separated. Blood and water

flowed from His side, indicating His Death. His sacrifice set us free. And now

He says to us to “Do this in memory of me”. We don’t need to celebrate the

Passover anymore. That was only a temporary thing. Now we have the

permanent reality. And just as the Israelites consumed the lamb, so we now

consume the sacrificial victim, the Lamb of God. If we receive Him in a state

of grace, free from mortal sin, fully believing in Him and rooted in Him

through baptism, and recognising Who it is that we are receiving, we come to

share in the new life He won for us. Receiving Him into our hearts is a serious

thing, and we have to make sure our hearts are prepared for so great a Guest.

Imagine if you were one of the soldiers taking part in a parade in honour of

King Charles. You would want your uniform to be clean, boots polished and

everything properly rehearsed. If you turned up and discovered you’d ripped

your sleeve, you’d want to get yourself sorted first, and quickly, before

everything starts.

When we receive Christ, we are taking part in His sacrifice. And when we

attend Mass, even if we don’t receive, just by being present, we are bathed in

the blood and water flowing from His side on the Cross. As the Prayer over the

Offerings today says:

“Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that we may participate worthily in these

mysteries, for whenever the memorial of this sacrifice [i.e. the Mass] is

celebrated the work of our redemption is accomplished. Through Christ our

Lord.”

He is the Lamb of God. And He truly takes away all the sin of the world.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk