Sunday, January 18, 2026

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 18, 2026

(Isaiah 49:3, 5–6; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3; John 1:29–34)

Although Christmas is a joyful season, the Church does not allow it to be a time of “pure joy.” She places the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, immediately after December 25. In doing so, the Church follows the pattern of the Gospels. In the infancy narratives of Jesus, both Saint Matthew and Saint Luke give hints of his death. Saint Matthew recounts the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents, who were killed while Herod sought to destroy Jesus. In Saint Luke, the aged Simeon refers to Jesus as a “sign of contradiction.” It is an enigmatic description. It means that Jesus will be rejected and hated by the very sinners he came to save.

This juxtaposition of joy and sorrow continues today as well. We concluded the Christmas season a week ago with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. And now, on the first Sunday afterwards, we hear a note of sadness. John the Baptist, pointing to Jesus, calls him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” At first glance, this seems like a peaceful image, but in reality it carries a frightening implication: the Lamb will remove sin by the shedding of his blood as a sacrificial offering.

As in the liturgies of Advent and Christmas, today’s Gospel fulfills the prophecy of the first reading. This reading comes from one of the four “Songs of the Suffering Servant.” These poems testify to a mysterious figure—the Suffering Servant—who appears in the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The song proclaimed today reveals the Servant’s mission, while the other songs describe how he will carry it out.

According to this song, God has chosen the Servant to accomplish two goals: to restore the twelve tribes of Israel and to bring salvation to the entire world. In light of the story of Jesus, the early Christians could only see him as the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus not only established the new Israel with his twelve apostles, but he also sent them to spread the Gospel to the farthest corners of the world. Equally significant, he fulfilled his mission according to the predictions of the Songs. He brought comfort to the poor and died for all men and women, without protest or complaint.

Pope Saint John Paul II helped us understand the greatness of these works of Jesus. He wrote that God creates the human person as a gift of love. In other words, our lives are gifts from God, given to us out of love. By “love,” we mean the willingness to seek the good of another. Since each of us is a gift, we fully realize ourselves as human persons when we give ourselves to others out of love. Jesus makes this self-giving possible through the sacrifice of his birth, his life, and his death. He was born in Bethlehem as God’s gift to the world. He lived by teaching us the ways of the Kingdom of God. Finally, he gave his life on Calvary for the salvation of the world from sin. In this process, Jesus not only modeled what it means to sacrifice oneself for others; he also conquered the spirit of evil that prevents us from imitating him.

Yet we live in a culture that has largely ignored the love of Christ. Many people today do not know Jesus. They live not as gifts for others, but for self-exaltation. Each year, fewer adults wish to commit themselves to another person in marriage. Why? Because they fear the sacrifice it requires. Young people avoid having children for the same reason. They do not understand that true joy comes only through this kind of sacrifice. Perhaps they may find pleasure in superficial relationships and excessive spending on themselves, but in the end they will likely wonder whether life has more to offer.

We have just begun Ordinary Time. This is the period in which we learn how Jesus gave his life as a gift. However, the season will be interrupted by Lent and Easter.  Then we will learn the cost of imitating him—and why it is worth it.