Connecting Others to Christ: The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

Connecting Others to Christ:

The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

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January 19, 2020

Isaiah 49:3-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

I admire John the Baptist’s role in pointing out Christ in the midst of confusing times. He gives us a model for ministry because not one of us is a savior, but we can be helpful to others by guiding them to the Lord and helping them connect with him. We are always seeking to know God better, especially in times of tumultuous change.

Over the past two weeks, I experienced the same confusion that people face in everyday life, and I felt frustrated and disconnected, and I think that is a common experience for many. For instance, two weeks ago, I called my bank to arrange a meeting with the manager, as he instructed. I could not reach him by phone, was redirected to the website that was ineffective, and found the easiest way to set up an appointment was through my phone. I then tried to make airline reservations, but the website was down. I was placed on hold for twenty minutes, and then found a way to make reservations with a subsidiary service on the phone. I am very capable with technology. I then called the pharmacist and, though we both spoke the same language, I felt like the words did not meet, and I hung up the phone lacking trust in our conversation. These are just some of the details of my last weeks, and I was pining for an easier time when solutions seemed quicker and more effective and there was more certainty.

I spoke with a number of people who feel disconnected from their employers, from family members, from health care providers and insurance companies, from the government, and, sadly, from church. I can see how people broadly reject institutions and corporations and the sleek advances of the contemporary world. I can see how people reject the new terms that are designed to respect individual differences and the renaming of holidays and traditions. Change has created jobs and lost jobs, and it has created disruption of the status quo. People long for the good old days when life was simpler.

So, these are our challenges, and we are Christians, and we cannot be thrown off by this societal change. The reading from Isaiah talks about the nation of Israel as a servant through whom God’s glory will be shown, and as Christians, we are the new Israel, the new servant. This servant is tasked with bringing the people back to the Lord and to gather around God as one people, through whom God’s light will shine. Therefore, we have a job to do. We have to help those people who feel disconnected to come back into the fold and to see the possibilities that we can create by coming together in solidarity. We have to be like John the Baptist, as one who sees the Lord, and points others to him.

The Jesuits have a slogan, “to find God in all things,” and St. Ignatius did not mean for this to be a passive exercise. He meant that we had to search, dig, discover, uncover, drill down to find God’s will in all things. This means that we have to actively, but respectfully, engage in the world’s challenges, enter into conflict, make our voices known, and speak up for those who cannot do it for themselves. It means we have to try hard to help a person in need find a way forward. It means we have to find ways to unite people with different perspectives. It means we have to connect people to the opportunities they cannot see. We can never be anyone’s savior, but through our wisdom, we can stand back and point our friends to the only one who can provide the depth of meaning they seek. That’s our responsibility. Behold. Christ is in our midst. Let’s connect with him, and then help others do the same.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (1 Samuel 15) The Lord anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’ Why then have you disobeyed the Lord?

Tuesday: (1 Samuel 16) “How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”

Wednesday: (1 Samuel 17) David spoke to Saul: “Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.” But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

Thursday: (1 Samuel 18) When David and Saul approached women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums. The women played and sang: “Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

Friday (1 Samuel 24) Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men in the direction of the wild goat crags. When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave, which he entered to relieve himself. David and his men were occupying the inmost recesses of the cave.

Saturday (Acts 22) Paul addresses the people claiming Jewish ancestry, taught by Gamaliel, and a Pharisee, but he has come to believe in the Christ, through the patronage of Ananias.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Mark 2) People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,  but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

Tuesday: (Mark 2) As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

Wednesday (Mark 3) Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”

Thursday (Mark 3) Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem.

Friday (Mark 3) Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Saturday (Mark 16) Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Gosepl to every creature. Whoever believes will be baptized.

Saints of the Week

January 20: Fabian, pope and martyr (d. 250), was a layman and stranger in Rome during the time of his election as pope. A dove settled on his head, which reminded people of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove during the baptism. He served for 14 years until his martyrdom.

January 20: Sebastian, martyr (d. 300), was buried in the catacombs in Rome. He hailed from Milan and is often pictured with many arrows piercing his body. Much of what we know about him is legend.

January 21: Agnes, martyr (d. 305), is one of the early Roman martyrs. Little is known about her, but she died around age 12 during a persecution. Because of her name’s connection with a lamb, her iconography depicts her holding a lamb to remind us of her sacrifice and innocence.

January 23: Marianne Cope (1838-1918), was a German-born woman who settled with her family in New York. She entered the Franciscans and worked in the school systems as a teacher and principal and she helped to establish the first two Catholic hospitals. She went to Honolulu, then Molokai, to aid those with leprosy.

January 24: Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor (1567-1622), practiced both civil and canon law before entering religious life. He became bishop of Geneva in 1602 and was prominent in the Catholic Reformation. He reorganized his diocese, set up a seminary, overhauled religious education, and found several schools. With Jane Frances de Chantal, he founded the Order of the Visitation of Mary.

January 25: The Conversion of Paul, the Apostle, was a pivotal point in the life of the early church. Scripture contains three accounts of his call and the change of behavior and attitudes that followed. Paul's story is worth knowing as it took him 14 years of prayer and study to find meaning in what happened to him on the road to Damascus.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Jan 19, 1561. In South Africa, the baptism of the powerful King of Monomotapa, the king's mother, and 300 chiefs by Fr. Goncalvo de Silveira.

·      Jan 20, 1703. At Paris, the death of Fr. Francis de la Chaise, confessor to Louis XIV and a protector of the French Church against the Jansenists.

·      Jan 21, 1764. Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, wrote a pastoral defending the Jesuits against the attacks of Parliament. It was ordered to be burned by the public executioner.

·      Jan 22, 1561. Pius IV abrogated the decree of Paul II and kept the life term of Father General.

·      Jan 23, 1789. John Carroll gained the deed of land for the site that was to become Georgetown University.

·      Jan 24, 1645. Fr. Henry Morse was led as a prisoner from Durham to Newgate, London. On hearing his execution was fixed for February 1, he exclaimed: "Welcome ropes, hurdles, gibbets, knives, butchery of an infamous death! Welcome for the love of Jesus, my Savior."

·      Jan 25, 1707. Cardinal Tournon, Apostolic Visitor of the missions in China, forbade the use of the words 'Tien' or 'Xant' for God and ordered the discontinuance by the Christians of the Chinese Rites.