Sanctify!

January 19, 2020

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011920.cfm


Have you ever read a scripture passage so many times that you just don’t feel it’s fresh anymore, as if there is no new material in it for you to learn from?  I shouldn’t be guilty of this but I am and now I stand here to tell you - DON’T DO THAT!  Scripture is alive, the living breathing word of God!  Scripture’s meaning doesn’t change but our perception of it can as we learn more and God brings us closer to the truth of who the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is.

Today, something in the Gospel struck me that I hadn’t noticed until meditating on it these past few weeks.  The Gospel of John has this quote from John the Baptist:

‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’

Because he existed before me!  But John the Baptist is six months older than Jesus!  John the Baptist was giving a quick course in Christology before anybody even knew who Christ really was!   Christ always existed - he was begotten, not made of the father when the word became flesh.  Christ the Son, like God the Father and the Holy Spirit are all and always have been eternally one!

Ok, with that said, the next thing we need to discuss is that today we once again wear green, welcome back to Ordinary time! Today is actually the second Sunday of Ordinary Time, but last week was actually not the first week of Ordinary time, it was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday and that ended the Christmas season so, in essence, we don’t get a First Sunday in Ordinary Time!  Confused?  Yeah, me too. When I researched how to lodge a complaint about the missing Sunday with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (or USCCB) I stumbled across what they say about Ordinary Time:

Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Ordinary time should be a time where we reflect on how God should sanctify our lives in all areas, even what we find ordinary like waking up to go to work or school.  

Our sanctification isn’t like going to a spa where we sit back and relax and let the sanctification do its work.  Our sanctification and salvation rely on our actions and that is clearly stated in today’s readings.  Today’s readings also state that our sanctification through our work is not just for ourselves but for the whole Church.  We see this right away in Isaiah:

The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory.

And then goes on to state:

I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

The Responsorial Psalm gives a good line to meditate upon during prayer or in adoration:

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

We are called to live a life of service to God in every aspect of our lives, to do God’s will.  When we go to work and walk into the office each day we are called to bring God there with us, we shouldn’t be saying: “God, you wait here in the car, I’ll be back in about nine hours”.  When we go on vacation we need to bring God with us and at a minimum, we need to make every effort to find a local Church and attend Mass that weekend while we are away from home.

Again, I can’t stress this enough, God must be first always, and then everything else will fall into place.  Our lives will be sanctified and our community as well!  As Paul’s letter to the Corinthians said:

you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

That is for all of us, all the time, and with our church here at Holy Family I feel I’m preaching to the choir - we are a small but very active parish here in East Taunton and it doesn’t go unnoticed.  Others have often said to me how much we have going on with our bible studies, adoration, special Masses, Youth, March for Life (pray for the March Pilgrims as we leave for the March on Thursday morning), Saint Vincent de Paul, Knights of Columbus, That Man is You and WINE - Woman in the New Evangelization ministries for the men and women of our parish and others too.  Our outreach has affected the lives of many enriching the spirituality of those individuals as well as that of our parish and beyond.

If you feel you are on the outskirts of all these parish ministries jump in, find one of our very active ministries and get involved.  If you already are involved then invite a friend or two or twelve to get involved with you and share that gift with them! If you aren’t comfortable with that then just spend some time at our adoration chapel in the Parish center praying for the church.  Don’t neglect the power of prayer, it is one of our most important ministries to help sanctify us and our Church and our world.

As Saint Francis of Assisi said:

Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.