Behold, the Lamb of God

01-15-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord on Monday this week, we effectively brought to a close the Holy Season of Christmas. The Baptism of the Lord symbolizes the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. On Tuesday, we were ushered into the first part of Ordinary Time which will continue until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when we shall begin the Season of Lent and celebrate Eastertide thereafter.

The second part of Ordinary Time shall begin on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday, and close on the day before the First Sunday of Advent. During Ordinary Time, the Church nourishes her children with the life and works of Jesus during His public ministry. This weekend, the Readings invite us to reflect on the role of Christ as the confirmed Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world and to reconcile all people to God our Father.

St. John the Evangelist, who is said to have been a disciple of John the Baptist before meeting Jesus, recounts that John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and decided to identify and point him out to his disciples. John the Baptist boldly identified Jesus as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. He implicitly confessed the Divinity of Christ by stating that Christ who ranks ahead of him existed before him. We know that in the flesh, John was born six months before Christ so he could not have been speaking of birth dates in the flesh.

John’s testimony was based on his own physical experience of the descent of the Holy Spirit, who appeared in the form of a dove, came upon Jesus and remained upon Him. His testimony was not based on mere verbal assurances but on a real personal experience of the confirmation of Jesus as the Son of God.

Each and every one of us is invited to be a witness in our world and time to the love of God who was made visible by the incarnation of the Word of God, who was sent by the Father and accompanied by the Holy Spirit, not only to dwell among us but to also reconcile us to the Father through forgiveness of sin made possible by His sacrifice on the cross. This is what we are called to do after participating in the Christmas festivities and during the course of the liturgical year. To be able to do this, we must all seek and obtain a true personal experience of the incarnation, real experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ like John the Baptist had. Faith and witnessing that is founded on a personal life-transforming experience of Christ is not easily shaken even in the midst of challenging uncertainties. Experiencing Christ on a personal level has the capacity to lend authenticity to our witnessing. Only when we are able to say with John the Baptist, “I have seen and now I testify that Jesus is the Son of God” will our witnessing gain authenticity and optimally produce the desired Spiritual fruits.

As we continue to seek and receive Spiritual nourishment during Ordinary Time, may we be granted life-transforming experiences of the goodness and love of Christ so that our witnessing may be true and fruitful.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh