GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 3RD JANUARY 2017
TUESDAY – CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
FIRST READING: 1John 2:29 – 3:6
PSALM: Psalm 98:1, 3-6
GOSPEL: John 1:29-34
THEME: THE LAMB OF GOD
I presume this is a joke but it is thought-provoking. A friend posted on a social media platform, “Wonders shall never end. Can you believe things are happening nowadays? I was sitting in church on Christmas day and the guy in front of me lit a cigarette right inside the church. I was shocked, I nearly dropped my beer”.
We are often critical and easily scandalised by the sins of others. However, like a ship wrecked at sea, the unpleasant waves of sin pummels all of us in one way or the other and leaves us half dead. In the end we are all frail and vulnerable. The best we can do is to send an SOS to heaven. Jesus is heaven’s response to the request to save our souls.
We have in our Gospel text for today, the first of two proclamations in the Gospel of John that describes Jesus as the “Lamb of God” (cf. Jn 1:29 & Jn 1:36). Upon seeing Jesus coming towards him, John the Baptist is reported to have said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29).
The title, “Lamb of God”, points to the sacrificial dimension of the mission of Jesus. It recalls the Passover lambs of the Exodus whose blood saved Israel (cf. Ex 12). It also brings to mind the theme of the suffering servant who was led like a lamb to the slaughter in the Book of Isaiah (cf. Is. 53:7,10).
Sin is cancerous; it eats slowly but steadily and, if not attended to, eventually leads to spiritual death. By our own human strength, we are unable to nip it completely in the bud; new year resolutions do not easily uproot it and the best of scientific assistance from psychologists and professional counsellors do not always heal character deformations. To be set free from sin, we need a Saviour. Jesus, the lamb of God, offers himself to us. Faith in Jesus is the surest antidote to both venial and mortal sins.
PRAYER:
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).