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.
