The Second Sunday of the Year

This Sunday, 14th January, is the Second Sunday of the Year, or of Ordinary Time. You can find the readings for Sunday’s Mass here. On our diocesan Liturgy Project website, Fr Anthony Fyk shares these liturgical notes…

Liturgically we are now in a period of transition. From all the solemnities and feasts that we celebrated and experienced during Christmastide to the simplicity of Ordinary Time. Of course, there is nothing ordinary in time, for all time is a gift and a grace. In today’s Gospel we hear of John pointing out the Messiah – “Look, there is the lamb of God.” The same words are used in the celebration of the Eucharist at the invitation to Holy Communion – “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world…” Many texts found in the liturgy are scriptural based. The double usage of ‘behold’ is not there haphazardly, but has a function of a rhetorical force, of empathising a strong and compelling invitation to receive the Lamb of God in Holy Communion. After genuflecting, which is a gesture of reverence, the priest takes the host and, holding it slightly raised above the paten or above the chalice, invites the people to behold, to gaze upon the Lamb of God. As celebrants, do we really mean these words of invitation? Or do we say them out of mere habit. For the faithful, do we gaze upon the Lord with faith and trust, and accept his invitation to receive him in the Eucharist, but also to accept his invitation of following him and be his disciple. Along our pilgrim journey of life, we all struggle with our sins and we may feel unworthy at times, but we should take counsel in the words of Pope Francis, “[Jesus] knows us; he knows we are sinners; and he knows we make many mistakes, but he does not give up on joining his life to ours. He knows that we need it, because the Eucharist is not the rewards of saints, no, it is the Bread of sinners.” Today, we are called to ‘come and see’ and follow him, as we heard the disciples did. Lastly, as we are called to ‘behold’ the Lord in the Eucharist, we are also called to ‘behold’ the Lord in others, especially in the poor, sick, and the suffering. We cannot neglect this truth, for as Pope Francis has reminded us, “when those who receive [the Eucharist]turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering, or consent to various forms of division, contempt and inequality, the Eucharist is received unworthily.”