Skip to main content

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By

We Christians love the Christmas Season because it allows us to dwell on the story of the Nativity and those first special moments in the life of Jesus and the Holy Family.  For as much as we love these stories, however, they’re not that important in the larger narrative of Jesus’ life.  Mark and John don’t even mention these moments in their Gospels because they didn’t find them relevant to their telling of the story.  The infancy narratives are like the hors d’oeuvres of Christian scripture – something to whet our appetites for the larger story to come, which begins now as we leave Christmastide behind and enter into Ordinary Time.

The Word for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19
Psalm 40:2, 7-8, 8-9, 10
1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
John 1:35-42

We ended the Christmas season with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord (which this year was the Monday after this past Sunday’s celebration of the Epiphany).  This is where John is passing the torch – ending his own ministry and pointing everyone to Jesus.  And it is here where Jesus accepts his divine mission, marking the beginning of a journey that literally changed the world.  The readings for Ordinary Time allows us to walk with Jesus through all the moments of his ministry, beginning with his calling of his Apostles.

Receiving a great calling is a theme that we see over and over in Scripture.  Our first reading gives us one such account from the 1st book of Samuel.  Samuel was the last of the great Judges in Israel before the monarchy.  Before he became a great prophet and judge, however, he was just a boy who had been taken under the tutelage of Eli, the high priest of Shiloh (and the second-last Judge of Israel).  Today’s passage is the story of how Samuel was called by God.  It is a pivotal moment not only for Samuel, but one that will forever change Israel as we know her.

Just as Samuel answered God’s call, our Gospel shows the first disciples of Jesus answering his call.  in a passage from John’s Gospel, John the Baptist sees Jesus go by and he proclaims “Behold, the Lamb of God.”  At this calling Andrew and another disciple come immediately forward to follow Jesus.  Andrew is so excited that he goes to find his brother Simon to bring him to Jesus, whereupon Jesus names him Peter.

As is typical with Ordinary Time, the intent of our second reading isn’t so much to complement the themes found in our first reading and the Gospel, but rather gives us an opportunity to study some of epistles at length.  For these next few weeks of Ordinary Time, we will be focused on passages from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians.  In today’s passage, Paul tells us that our very bodies are for the Lord.  That they are in fact, temples for the Spirit, and as such, we should use our bodies accordingly.  Not for immoral acts, but to the service of the Lord and the greater body of Christ.  We can also see in this passage the beginnings of Paul’s teachings on the Body of Christ.

Final Thoughts:
The people in our readings this week all have something in common – they’ve been called by God.  Today this type of “calling” is often synonymous with the word vocation, which comes from the Latin vocar, which means “to call”, and vocatia, which means “summons”.  It is also the root of words like vocalize and voice.  While the word vocation has certain meaning for us Catholics as a call to ordination or to the vows of religious life, it also has a similar secular meaning with regard to one’s occupation, profession or way of life.  A vocation is something that comes from beyond ourselves, yet at the same time, is an intimate part of ourselves.  

Marriage and living the married life is also a vocation within the Church.  It’s more than just committing yourself to another person, but together committing themselves (and any children) to that vocation.  What makes family life a vocation is the need to propagate the Gospel, preserving the Church and ensuring the future of the Church through the next generation so that the story of Jesus and the message of the Gospel continues.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle A

By
For anyone who is a parent, or anyone who’s had to mediate a dispute among children, you likely have confronted the phrase “But that’s not fair!”  How many times in your life have you uttered that phrase?  Even as adults we have a tendency to equate “justice” with “fairness.”  But here’s the thing – what is “just” may not always be “fair,” and what is “fair” to one person may not always be “fair” to the other.  Our readings this week deal with just that problem, the difference between what we think is fair and what God thinks is both fair and just. The Word for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time Isaiah 55:6-9 Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a Matthew 20-1-16a We open with a reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, in this case from the closing chapter of Deutero or “second” Isaiah.  This comes from a point in Israelite history where the people have been released from their Exile in Babylon.  The Lord has shown them great mercy and forgiveness by freeing them from th
Post a Comment
Read more

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By
Our readings this week focus on a core theme that runs through Jesus’ ministry – repentance.  There is no sin so grave that cannot be forgiven with true contrition and a return to God.  This was the message that John the Baptist proclaimed, and the message Jesus continued to proclaim as he took up his own ministry.  This theme not only runs through the gospels but is one of the major themes that binds the entire Bible into a cohesive volume.   The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Our first reading comes from the book of Jonah.  The story of Jonah is well known in both Jewish and Christian circles, yet for all its popularity, we only hear it in the Sunday Liturgy this once.  For this reason, many Catholics only have a passing familiarity with Jonah’s story.  They know his name and that he was swallowed by a large fish (or whale), but that’s about it.  In our passage this week, God asks Jonah to go through
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter Sunday - Cycle B

By
Growing up Catholic I was always taught that Easter was our most important holiday and for my family “Easter” meant Easter Sunday.  After all, that’s when the Easter Bunny left us treats.  As I grew into adulthood, however, with an ever-growing understanding into the depth and breadth of our faith, I learned that Easter Sunday wasn’t our most important Liturgical celebration.  Instead that distinction falls on the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening – the conclusion of our Paschal Triduum. The Word for the Resurrection of the Lord (Easter Day) Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Colossians 3:1-4, or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 John 20:1-9 While the readings for Easter Sunday are important, they are also just a very small piece of the story of our relationship with God.  It's like eating only one hors d'oeuvre at a banquet.  It gives you a foretaste of the great food to come but could hardly be considered nutritious or filling.  Unpacking the readings for this Sunday, like
Post a Comment
Read more