Click here to view the livestream for the Mass
for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saturday, January 16 & Sunday, January 17 2021
BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD
Nineteen hundred years before Jesus’s birth, Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac. When God saw his faith and obedience, he stopped Abraham and gave him a ram to sacrifice. However, he did not give him a lamb. Abraham knew that God would someday send the lamb. The children of Israel (Abraham’s grandson) always waited for the lamb that would be the true sacrifice for their sin.
When John the Baptist said to his disciples that Jesus was the Lamb of God, he was saying that Jesus was the promised Lamb for the sacrifice of sin and the salvation of the world. That is why John and Andrew followed after Jesus with John the Baptist’s blessing.
John also points out Jesus as the Lamb of God to us. Just as Jesus asks John’s disciples: “What are you looking for?”, he asks us as well. “What are you looking for in life? What do you hunger for? “ If our desires are superficial, Jesus is not of much help in satisfying them. He came to bring eternal life, and only those seeking eternal life will find meaning in this life with Jesus.
When the two disciples asked Jesus where he was staying, Jesus invited them “come and see.” “Come and see” means “follow me and believe.” It is through believing that we will see who Jesus truly is. John and Andrew “stayed” with Jesus. The point of our coming to Jesus is to remain with Him and abide with Him in eternity.
Andrew told his brother Peter that they had found the “Messiah,” which in Greek means “Christ.” When we find our treasure in Jesus, we are called to bring others to Him that they might have eternal life in him.
For ten months the Corona Virus Pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. The impact of COVID19 alone would be a lot, but then adding the uncertainty over future employment, economic disruption, civil unrest, on-line learning, loss of child care services, and a presidential election makes a bad situation even worse. All the uncertainty is taking a toll on everyone’s mental health. Feelings of isolation and uncertainty due to COVID-19 are causing many people to feel depressed, worried, stressed and anxious.
When Jesus comes to ask you now in your life: “What are you looking for?”, share with Him how you feel. Ask Him to help you keep your mental health in balance. Knowing that He is with us helps to relieve the feeling of isolation and uncertainty, which can be caused by mild depression. When we follow His guidance we can relieve uncertainty which often causes us to worry. Knowing he is helping us to better handle the stress of life, allows us to see what is causing our stress, so we can deal with it.
If we can control our worry and stress, anxiety will be kept in check. If depression, worry, stress and anxiety continue, seek someone to help you keep in balance.
God Bless
Msgr. Powell
REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE LORD’S DAY.
KEEP THE SABBATH.
WORSHIP GOD FOR YOUR OWN SAKE.
Daily Mass from EWTN
