Sunday, January 15, 2023

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 49:3.5-6; I Corinthians 3:1-3; John 1:29-34)

One of his city’s best trial lawyers was once asked: What is the most important thing for winning a court case? Is it a fair judge? Is it a sympathetic jury? Is it a good support team? The lawyer promptly responded. "No, the most important thing to win a court case is one credible witness." In the gospel today we find such a witness in the case of Jesus.

John is a man of conviction. He doesn't waver so that his answer one day is this and the next day is that.  John also doesn't care about anything less than the truth. He lives on locusts and wild honey so that he cannot be bribed with any material thing. He does not try to please people but only God. He recognizes his task as preparing Israel for the coming of the Lord’s chosen one.

When he sees Jesus in today’s gospel, John testifies that he is the one, “the Lamb of God…” He means that Jesus is going to give himself up to death as a sacrifice to take away the sin that infects the world. He testifies that Jesus has the Holy Spirit which makes him the Son of God. Jesus imparts the same Spirit to us in Baptism. We have received the Spirit so that we might fulfill the will of God. 

We have just lost one of the great witnesses of our time. Pope Benedict XVI like John lived to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Benedict was a man of truth. He did not seek the favorable opinion of the press or of politicians. In a famous statement he criticized "liberation theology," which was the fashion in theology in the last quarter of the twentieth century. At the time, he was in charge of the Vatican department for matters of faith. The then Cardinal Ratzinger did not condemn liberation theology but warned its adherents that if they professed liberation only from social oppression and not also from personal sin, they would not be faithful to the gospel.

Benedict was also a person of humility. As he grew weak, he did not hold onto the office of pope. Although he had the world's attention, he resigned from the papacy when he realized that he could not carry out its responsibilities well.

Because he came from Germany after many years of rigorous study, Benedict's personality was reserved. But he was not cold and much less ruthless as was sometimes said of him. An American priest remembers meeting him in a receiving line when he came to New York on a papal visit. The priest says that although the line was long, Benedict extended his hand to him and presumably to everyone else, looking into each person’s eyes. His observation of Pope Benedict confirms what his biographer said about his manners. When waiting to see him on his first visit, Cardinal Ratzinger came to him personally and extended his hand in a friendly manner.

More than before, we need testimony like that of Pope Benedict. In fact, it is necessary for all of us mass goers bear witness to Jesus Christ. The world is losing its good sense in a flood of overconcern about oneself. Secularism has eliminated reference to God as an authority outside of the person. Individualism has facilitated tragedies such as the breakdown of the nuclear family. And relativism has produced contradictions like gender change and gay marriage. Christ compels us to love those who think and act differently. But he also teaches us that there are transcendent truths to be defended despite what others think.

Pope Benedict died with a testimony of his love for Jesus on his lips. His last words were: "Jesus, I love you." Perhaps we could bear witness to Jesus by rehearsing what we want to be our final words. After saying goodbye to our loved ones, we would like to say something like: "I trust in you, O Lord." Let's repeat these words to another person every day.