We now enter into Ordinary Time. But, any Sunday in Ordinary Time is no less important than the other liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The word Ordinary as used here comes from the word “ordinal” or “numbered” simply to mark our Sundays and in that sense we are in ordinary time, but there is never anything ordinary about the message of the Gospel.
In fact, Sundays in Ordinary Time - are devoted to the mystery of Christ in its fullness – for us to become more familiar with the Person of Jesus and His way of living…
- Today’s Gospel (John 1:29-34) is actually another Epiphany - another revelation of who Christ is – as John the Baptist said: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” – which we hear before Holy Communion at every Mass. Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s sacrificial love for the world.
On these Sundays in Ordinary Time - we focus more on various aspects of our faith, especially the mission of the church, our mission in the world…what it really means to be a Christian.
From our First Reading today: “I will make you a light to the nations; that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Are these words speaking to you? Are they speaking to your heart? If so, are you “up for it”? Is there anything that demands a response from you? Like Mary, ponder it in your hearts.
From our Second Reading (1 Cor.: 1:1-3) – we heard St. Paul addressed the Church in Corinth - To the church of God that is in Corinth - We can phrase it to say: To the church of God in Vallejo - To St. Catherine of Siena faith community - you who have been baptized and sanctified in Christ Jesus, you are called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Holy” means – to be set apart for a unique purpose - called out of this world, set apart for God… Being in this world but not of it…
The universal call to holiness is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that all people are called to be holy – not only priests and religious – but also all lay people living an everyday life and doing ordinary work: There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of us to discover it.
All of us – no exception - are called to share in the mission of Christ in the world… so that through us – other people will also be transformed and also experience having Christ in their lives….
Jesus did not merely “appoint” the twelve apostles, but He actually transformed those ordinary men into apostles. Jesus transformed very ordinary and unpromising persons into active vessels or instruments of divine grace…into living Sacraments through whom God can pour out His love, grace and mercy.
You see – God uses ordinary people, to do the extraordinary. God did this with the apostles. He did this with His saints. He can and will do this with us. God makes us, ordinary people, extraordinary…. The truth is - “In Christ, there is no such thing as an ordinary life.”
At our baptism, we were all - in effect – in essence - commissioned as “workers in the vineyard of the Lord” – as laborers to help with God’s harvest… because “the laborers are few”. Again, the call to share in the mission of Christ is not only for the priests and the religious.
When we come to the table of the Lord to receive Holy Communion – as we receive the Body of Christ - we renew our own baptismal commitment to witness to our faith.
That is why at the end of the Mass – having received the Body of Christ - we are sent to proclaim the Good News of God’s love – to glorify the Lord by our lives - to be in the world - what we have become – the Body of Christ - to be the presence of Jesus in our world—in our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods, our schools, starting with our own families.
We are all called and sent to proclaim how really good the Good News is!
What I just said and about to say have been preached to us - so many times - in so many ways. If we have not really given this a lot of thought, maybe it’s time we did… because this is what life is all about… Life is not just about getting the most out of this earthly life. Life is not just about being comfortable.
Part of our mission is “to comfort the afflicted; to afflict the comfortable.”
- to wake people up to reality… to the truth… to shake them out of their complacency and indifference.
But of course – we cannot give what we do not have.
So – the question to us is this: How does our ordinary daily life reflect or show our faith in the Incarnation of Christ – what we celebrate at Christmas - God becoming flesh – the Word – the Love of God becoming flesh in us?
How does our life reflect our faith in the Risen Christ who conquered sin and death? Are we truly Easter people…
This life in Christ – who lived His life in total surrender and obedience to the will of His Father - is the key to fullness of life, sense of fulfillment, true peace, true happiness, true joy, life filled with hope.
… The goal of all the baptized… is making the relationship with God as the focus of our lives – living our lives centered on Jesus Christ… doing God’s will.
Again – if you want to be truly happy - true joy and lasting happiness, fullness of life, eternal life – which we all want – they come from doing the will of God in our lives… by being what God created us to be.
You know what? The only real sadness is not to find God’s will for your life – not to find your own unique vocation – not to find God’s unique plan for your life and therefore failing to do God’s will. Failing to live your life according to will of God brings about the real sadness… more than all the other sadness you might experience in life.
We have to realize that no one – no one can take our unique place in God’s plan of salvation – to reach those people God uniquely placed in our life. As Saint Francis of Assisi said: "You may be the only gospel a person will ever read."
The saints – who were ordinary people as we are – they became saints not because they were perfect; but because they allowed God to transform their imperfections. We are all called to be saints. That’s our vocation. Saints do not mean only those saints the church canonized publicly and recognized with feast days. Saints are those who lived faithfully their ordinary lives.
In its most basic sense, a saint is a “holy one,” someone who is set apart for God's special purpose. As a result, every follower of Jesus is a saint. All of us are called to be saints.
To be a saint does not mean that we need to run away from the demands of family and profession and escape to a monastery, to a convent or to the desert to become a saint…. God expects us to be saints in the ordinary concrete situations of our personal, family and business or professional lives.
We have to remember this - St. Therese of Lisieux said: You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.
There is a wonderful statement by St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta which we should all take to heart and which we should remind ourselves of - everyday…
She said: “Each time anyone comes into contact with us, they must become different and better people because of having met us. We must radiate God’s love.”
Meaning - If we have the Spirit of Christ in us, naturally - we ourselves become Good News also to others. Our words and actions become signs of God's loving presence in the world. “And the Word became flesh.”
…And that is our vocation…
Amen.
God bless…
