A Homily – The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading - 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:68

Alternative Acclamation – John 1:41, 17

The Gospel According to John 1:35 – 42 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Be mindful!

 When leaders arise among us we must acknowledge them. When that leadership is pure and we see that their work is holy, we must acknowledge that. In acknowledging these things it is important that we do not embellish the record…let the bare facts speak for themselves.

 Remember.

 God speaks to all people. The creator of the universe speaks in the human heart. God is present to anyone who will listen, but God does not favor some over others…and God does not appear in visions.

 In every way, save the way of the heart, God is silent.

 Consider the wisdom of the psalmist:

 God is the God of mercy and of listening; bend your ear to God. Stretch out your feelings and you will find your way through the troubles of life on Earth, beyond the filth and past all misery as the psalmist says.

 Seek salvation, which means wellness; look for wellness by freeing yourself from the addiction of sin, and while doing so, do not dwell on the sins of others.

 When you are beset with difficulties, do not cast blame on those around you. Rather look to yourself, to your own faults, seek relief from them by following in the way of love, humility, justice and mercy.

 Consider the words of the apostle!

 The Holy Spirit dwells with us, the spirit of God dwells within everyone. Each one of us has been created in the divine image, each of us bears a fragment of the eternal God within us, where that fragment abides, the fullness of God also resides.

 The divine spirit is joined to us in this way, and what God has joined, no-one may separate.

 Know this.

 Everything we are, we owe to the creator of the universe. The spirit of God that rests within us is our truest self.

 Use your time on earth in service to God, serving God who dwells within you, by serving God who dwells within your neighbor…even those who persecute you.

 Remember this!

 When God made you, God made you free. When God made you, God knew your capacity for sin, and God made you anyway because God also knew your capacity for love; your capacity for love is greater than your capacity for sin…God has faith in you, and so should you have faith in God.

 Be mindful!

 Do not follow the errors of the apostle, do not fret about your sexuality, about the physical expression of love.

 Do this instead: engage your sexual-partners in a manner that respects the inherent dignity of their person, and your own. Be safe, and accept responsibility for the consequences of what flows from your decisions.

 Understand.

 You are saved already.

 Know this.

 The word messiah is a Hebrew word that refers to the expected savior of Israel and Judea, the one who would free its people from tyranny and the yoke of foreign occupation.

 Christ is a Greek word which refers to the anointed one, or any person who has been blessed in a ritualistic way with oil, which we call chrism.

 In the Christian church a ritual of anointing is something everyone experiences at baptism or confirmation, or upon the acceptance into the deaconate or priesthood, and many other occasions including the last rites which are known as extreme unction.

 Political leaders are often anointed upon their inauguration into office, including kings and princes.

 The Hebrew messiah was expected to be the person who would not only lift the yoke of foreign oppression, but would also re-establish the David dynasty, as such that person would have been anointed in these rather ordinary ways that we are all familiar with.

 There was also an expectation that the messiah would be a priest of the highest order, perhaps filling both offices: king and priest in one person, and as such they would be anointed in a special way.

 Know this!

 From the time of the early Church the expectation of all Christians is that they would serve as a royal priesthood, making it so that all Christians are among the anointed, with the expectation that we all follow of the way Jesus instructed us to live in, serving our sisters and brothers in a way that heals and brings wellness as a gift to God.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today.

 It is important to note that John’s Gospel, being the latest and last to be written, coming nearly one-hundred and fifty years after the death of Jesus, that this Gospel makes a radical departure from any attempt to present the life of Jesus in a historical context.

 The authors of John only followed the timeline presented in the synoptic gospels: Mark, Matthew and Luke, because that narrative structure had already been rooted in the consciousness of the early church.

 Nevertheless, John leaps away from the synoptic narrative at every opportunity that presents itself, he leaps away from what was passing as history in order to insert the “faith” constructions of the early church, “beliefs” about Jesus that had developed over the course of the first century, which constitutes an ideology and doctrine that changed the meaning of Jesus’ life and death, while reconstructing his mission in significant ways.

 By the time John’s Gospel is written, the Church is no longer concerned with courting the disciples of John the Baptist. The authors of John skip the baptism of Jesus completely. There is no passing of the torch from one to the other, there is only a statement of recognition from the Baptist, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and with that John’s followers pick up their things to follow him, leaving the Baptist altogether.

 The authors of John are not concerned with the assimilation of John’s followers into the early Church, they are concerned with the structure and hierarchy of the established church, and therefore they transform this scene into an explicit endorsement of the Petrine supremacy. In which Jesus recognizes Peter as the future leader of the Church from the outset of his ministry, giving him his new name, Cephas, or Rock at the very.

 This narrative flourish sets the tone for the kind of propaganda John’s Gospel delivers from the outset.

 As Christians we are called to the recognition of truth, and to be in its service at all times. Therefore, we must be wary of these fabulous intrusions into the timeline. We should always question how they developed and what purpose they were intended to serve, holding them up to the standard Jesus set for us, that they be truthful and in the service of the good.

 

 First Reading - 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19 ©

'Speak, Lord, your Servant is Listening'

Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord, where the ark of God was, when the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.’ Samuel had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli then understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’

Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

I waited, I waited for the Lord

  and he stooped down to me;

  he heard my cry.

He put a new song into my mouth,

  praise of our God.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,

  but an open ear.

You do not ask for holocaust and victim.

  Instead, here am I.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands written

  that I should do your will.

My God, I delight in your law

  in the depth of my heart.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed

  in the great assembly.

My lips I have not sealed;

  you know it, O Lord.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20 ©

Do Not Sin Against your Own Body

The body is not meant for fornication: it is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. God, who raised the Lord from the dead, will by his power raise us up too.

You know, surely, that your bodies are members making up the body of Christ; do you think I can take parts of Christ’s body and join them to the body of a prostitute? Never! But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Keep away from fornication. All the other sins are committed outside the body; but to fornicate is to sin against your own body. Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.

 

Gospel Acclamation  1 Samuel 3:9, John 6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 1:41, 17

Alleluia, alleluia!

We have found the Messiah – which means the Christ – grace and truth have come through him.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 1:35 – 42 ©

‘We Have Found the Messiah’

As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.

  One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.

 

The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)