Brothers and sisters

May the Lord give you peace!

After the celebration of Jesus’ baptism (last Sunday), we entered the liturgical season we call Ordinary Time. Listen carefully: it is no less important a period of the liturgy. Ordinary Time, with its Mass Readings and the Gospel proclaimed each Sunday, once again becomes a journey for our life of faith.

This second Sunday of Ordinary Time offers us the testimony of John the Baptist. From the perspective of the Evangelist John, who was present as a witness, the Baptist recognizes and points Him out. “Behold” in Greek is like an “imperative” verb, meaning “look, see!” Here is the Lamb of God, the One who takes upon Himself, who took upon himself the sin present in the world, who takes away the sin of the world. And this is something Jesus did once and for all on the Cross. And it is renewed at every Eucharistic celebration: “The formula spoken by John the Baptist is significantly repeated every time Christians celebrate the Eucharist. We Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) recognize in the Eucharist, in the Body of Christ presented by the priest, the strength capable of helping all of us who are weak. But through the power of Christ’s sacrifice, yes, through the power of Christ’s one eternal sacrifice. This is why our Orthodox brothers call the Mass the Divine Liturgy. And we Catholics call it the Holy Mass. It is not just a rite, a repetition.

Brothers and sisters, a very provocative question: What does this mean? Jesus frees our hearts from sin. It is He, the Lord Jesus, who reconciles us with the Father. It means that in faith in Jesus we can find peace with God and with ourselves. That in Him we can find the forgiveness that we cannot find on our own. Yes, in Christ we find true peace… it is not a merely psychological peace… It is much deeper. It is a gift.