Sermons by Fr Guy Nicholls (Cong Orat), our Chaplain, and Fr John Greatbach, plus one or two others

  Jesus said on one occasion, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus leading us to a more abundant life. Jesus said to his disciples, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:20) He wanted them to have a more abundant life than the scribes and Pharisees. What was not so abundant or lacking in the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?

  Their lives had over-emphasis on the Jewish Law. There was even a Jewish opinion that for the first three hours of every day God sat and studied the Law! The scribes and Pharisees had placed emphasis on the external observance of the Law, but Jesus said a better way to live is to love God and neighbour with the heart, not just external observance of the Law. Loving with the heart, and not only being concerned about breaking rules, is going beyond the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. It is having life more abundantly. That is why Jesus said he came to fulfil the Law (Matt 5:17), which is another way of saying he came to fulfil the Old Testament. Since Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Law, Jesus and not the Law is the way to salvation. Since Jesus is the way to salvation, he wants you to enjoy even now the blessings of his kingdom, not to have to wait until heaven. In order to enjoy the blessings of his kingdom now, in the Gospel today (Matt 5:17-37) and next Sunday (Matt 5:38-48), Jesus takes examples of Old Testament Law and shows how to live it with the heart. That is what brings true peace, and even now a share in the kingdom of God.

  The Law forbade taking the life of another, but Jesus said anger towards someone is also wrong (Matt 5:21-26). In other words, attitudes towards another that kill the life in that person are also wrong because it is not only bullets that kill. Harsh judgments, cynicism, negativity, and hating others kill life. If someone has hurt us, forgiveness may take a great effort, but Jesus expects us to break the cycle of hurt and put love into life. Jesus did overturn the tables of the moneychangers because they were turning the temple into a marketplace, but he was never violent to a person. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane, Peter drew a sword, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. (John 18:10) Jesus said to Peter to put his sword back in its scabbard and that all who take the sword will perish by the sword (Matt 26:52). Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed him (Luke 22:49).

  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says

Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being (2258)

  The Catechism also says

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person—among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. (2270)

  Someone told me last week that the biggest cause of death in our world today is abortion. Love does not kill life. Love wants to care for life. Jesus came that we may have life more abundantly, and that we would love with the heart, and our righteousness exceed that of the scribe and Pharisees.

  Jesus gives other examples of loving with the heart in today’s Gospel. Jesus said the Law forbids adultery but Jesus said this also refers to what is in one’s heart (Matt 5:27-30). There is a saying that broken promises lead to broken lives. Jesus wants more for people’s marriage than keeping promises. Remaining faithful means loving one’s spouse with one’s heart and thoughts. The loving fidelity of a husband and wife to each other reflects the loving faithfulness of God towards us. That is the abundance of life that Jesus wants now for those who follow him, the righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, so that even now we can enjoy something of Jesus’ kingdom and not have to wait until heaven.

  Another example Jesus gives of loving with the heart concerns taking oaths (Matt 5:33-37). It was said not to swear a false oath. Jesus said, “let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes.’” On another occasion Jesus said he is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and that the truth will make us free (John 8:32). Unfortunately, all around us we see truth being manipulated for the sake of winning some argument. That is the opposite to the martyrs. The martyrs remained faithful to the truth even if it meant giving their lives for Jesus. Those on the side of Jesus cannot manipulate the truth because Jesus is the truth and if someone manipulates the truth it damages our relationship with Jesus. Being truthful is loving with the heart, living like Jesus, and is another way to have a more abundant life and righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.

  The scribes and Pharisees had placed emphasis on the external observance of the Law, but Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Law and the way to salvation. He wants you to enjoy even now the blessings of his kingdom, not to have to wait until heaven. Loving with the heart brings true peace and even now a share in the kingdom of God

Jesus used ordinary images, such as salt and light, to convey extraordinary truths that transform our minds, hearts, and lives. What does salt and light have to teach us about God and the transforming power of his kingdom? Salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world. People traded with it, like we trade with valuable goods, such as gold and stock. Salt also served a very useful purpose, especially in warmer climates before the invention of electricity and refrigeration. Salt not only gave rich flavour to food, it also preserved food from going bad and being spoiled.

Jesus used the image of salt to describe the transforming effect of God's work in our lives - and how the Holy Spirit wants to work through us to bring the power and blessing of God's kingdom to others. As salt purifies, preserves, and produces rich flavour for our daily food, we, too, as disciples of Jesus, are "salt" for the world of human society. The Lord wants to work in and through us to purify, preserve, and spread the rich flavour of God's kingdom everywhere - his "kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

What did Jesus mean by the expression "if salt has lost its taste... it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot" (Matthew 5:13)? Salt in the ancient world was often put into ovens to intensify the heat. When the salt was burned off and no longer useful it was thrown out on the ground where it would easily get stepped on and swept away (Matthew 5:13). How can we lose our "saltiness"? When we allow the world, sin, and Satan to corrupt us. The Lord wants us to preserve our "saltiness" - through virtuous living and rejection of sin - not only for our own sake but also for the sake of others.

Paul the Apostle reminds us that we are called to be "the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16 ). Do you allow the fragrance of Christ's love, truth, and holiness to permeate every area of your life, your thoughts, words, actions, and relationships?

Jesus used the image of light and a lamp to further his illustration of God's transforming work in and through us. Lamps in the ancient world served a vital function, much like they do today. They enable people to see and work in the dark and to avoid stumbling. The Jews also understood "light" as symbol or expression of the inner beauty, truth, and goodness of God. In his light we see light ( Psalm 36:9). His word is a lamp that guides our steps (Psalm 119:105). God's grace not only illumines the darkness in our lives, but it also fills us with spiritual light, joy, and peace.

Jesus used the image of a lamp to describe how his disciples are to live in the light of his truth and love. Just as natural light illumines the darkness and enables one to see visually, so the light of Christ shines in the hearts of believers and enables us to see the heavenly reality of God's kingdom. Our mission is to be light-bearers of Jesus Christ so that others may see the truth of the gospel and be freed from the blindness of sin and deception.

There is great freedom and joy for those who live in the light of God's truth and goodness. Do you know the joy and freedom of living in God's light?

Dear Sisters, dear brethren, we have just heard the opening passage of the so-called ‘Sermon on the Mount’, a name given to three chapters in S Matthew’s Gospel in which he relates the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, and an important summary of His teaching. We should note the setting St Mathew describes: ‘Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain…’ Is this significant, or merely a descriptive setting of the scene? The people have already begun to notice Him, and to follow Him in great crowds. The mountain is significant. In the Book of Exodus, Moses went up mount Sinai, in order to bring down from there the Ten Commandments. The mountain, then, is the place from which God declares His teaching through His servant Moses.

Matthew continues: ‘and when [Jesus] sat down, his disciples came to Him…’ Jesus, we note, sits down before addressing them. He sits as a sign of His authority. He is no ordinary teacher; He has authority of His own, as many comment about Him at the time. The one who sits when he teaches has great authority. This is why a bishop has a seat, a cathedra, in his principal church, as the place from which he teaches his flock with the authority that has been given to him as a successor of the Apostles of Jesus. Hence his church is called a ‘cathedral’ church – literally ‘the church of the seat’. Just so, Jesus sits to teach with authority. Then Matthew tells us ‘And [Jesus] opened His mouth and taught them, saying…’ This ‘opening of His mouth’ is another sign of Jesus’s great authority. We shall see that in Jesus a greater teacher than Moses is here. Moses taught on God’s behalf. Jesus is God in person.

Now we come to the opening passage of the entire Sermon, a passage known as the ‘Beatitudes’ from the opening word of each phrase: ‘beati’, or ‘blessed’. For a long time we have been used to hearing this series of phrases begin ‘happy are those who…’, so why have we now returned to ‘Blessed are those who…’?

This is a most interesting question. The reason for this return to ‘blessed’ can be found in the very phrases our Lord uses. He begins each one with a statement: ‘blessed are those who…’ and then gives the reason why they are blessed: ‘for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…for they shall be comforted…for they shall inherit the earth…for they shall be satisfied…for they shall receive mercy…for they shall see God…for they shall be called sons of God…for your reward is great in heaven.’

Do you see what is happening here? These conditions of being blessed are not to be found in the present moment. They are blessed because of what shall be done for them in the future. They are not ‘happy’, which is a feeling of contentment here and now, but ‘blessed’ because by their endurance of whatever particular difficulty, hardship, trial, revilement, persecution, here and now, their future bliss is assured.

Why is this important to note here? Well, if you are mourning now, if you are persecuted and reviled now, you cannot be happy or contented now, except perhaps in the faith that assures you your reward will come. That is true, but it is not all. It would look like a cop-out if we simply said, ‘we must put up with misery now, because we will get everything we want in the future.’

There are probably today just three great religions vying to dominate the world: Christianity, Marxism and Islam. Despite being very different from each other, they have some very significant common points – one in particular that concerns us in this message of our Lord’s. Karl Marx hated Christianity because he read the Beatitudes something like this: you are going along in the burning heat of the desert dying of thirst and you think you can see water in the distance ahead: that is, in the future. There’s no water here and now: but cheer up! There’s water in plenty to look forward to. So make hopefully for that lovely water in the distance. But a mirage is imaginary. It isn’t real. Marx said that Christianity is like that. It holds out the prospect of heaven after the miseries of this life in order to keep the poor quiet and submissive to the rich and powerful. This is what he meant by calling religion ‘the opium of the people’, like a drug that cruelly and dishonestly builds a false hope in people of a fulfilment that isn’t there, and never will be, and even worse, this false hope cruelly deprives the poor of the only real thing worth hoping for.

This is why Marx sought instead to create heaven on earth, here and now. Because life is unfair for many, it must be made fair for all, by force if necessary. Every good thing in life must be equally available to everybody, because there isn’t another life after this. Hence Marxists strive to create a Utopia on earth by whatever means, because there is no such thing as life after death, nor any heaven ‘up there’ to enjoy. Is he right? After all, Our Lord says: ‘blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth’? Is Marx right, then, to the extent that one day the earth will be possessed by those who are called ‘blessed’ and ‘meek’? Well, Marx has absolutely no time for meekness; he calls for violent revolution, the overthrow of the oppressive system.

Our Lord does nothing of the kind. Those who take up the sword will perish by the sword, or by any other violent means you care to name. No. Our Lord means something different by what He calls the earth here: He is speaking of the ‘new earth’ along with the ‘new heaven’, which God will bring into being at the end of time as the state in which He and His chosen blessed ones will dwell together for all eternity.

Then there is Islam. Unlike Marx, Mohammed said that there is indeed a heaven to come after this life, and it will be a reward for those alone who have done the will of Allah. But the reward will simply be the enjoyment without limits of every earthly and sensual kind of pleasure known to men.

All this is utterly different from Christian understanding of heaven which we find in our Lord’s teaching in the Beatitudes. Heaven is not a place or state to be found here on earth, nor does it consist in doing things in heaven that are forbidden here on earth. Our Lord’s teaching on heaven is that it is to be found in comfort that takes away all sorrow, in receiving the mercy we always longed for, in finding the righteousness that corrects all injustice. Now there are many who put their trust in the teachings of Marx or Mohammed rather than in the teachings of Christ. Can we be sure, then, that what we hope for is real and better than what they hope for? The answer lies in the desires we have in our hearts for those things which our Lord speaks of. We desire consolation, we desire justice, we desire mercy, we desire peace. Such things as these we often cannot have in this life, but we still long for them. If that were all we had, just longings that could never be fulfilled, then we would be miserable indeed. How could that be right? How could that show God to be just?

C. S. Lewis wrote: ‘If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world’. Only Christianity supplies this need with authenticity. Only our Lord has the authority to teach the truth from God because He is God. We may not necessarily be happy now, because this life is full of sorrow and tribulation, but if we put our trust in God and in Christ, then truly we can ‘rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven.’ We were made to be satisfied not in this world but only in the next, for only then will we be blessed, because only then will be see God face to face.

What is the good life which God intends for us? And how is it related with the ultimate end or purpose of life? Is it not our desire and longing for true happiness, which is none other than the complete good, the sum of all goods, leaving nothing more to be desired? Jesus addresses this question in his sermon on the mount. The heart of Jesus' message is that we can live a very happy life. The call to holiness, to be saints who joyfully pursue God's will for their lives, can be found in these eight beatitudes. Jesus' beatitudes sum up our calling or vocation - to live a life of the beatitudes. The word beatitude literally means "happiness" or "blessedness".

What is the significance of Jesus' beatitudes, and why are they so central to his teaching? The beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness that God has placed in every heart. They teach us the final end to which God calls us, namely the coming of God's kingdom (Matthew 4:17), the vision of God (Matthew 5:8; 1 John 2;1), entering into the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21-23) and into his rest (Hebrews 4:7-11). Jesus' beatitudes also confront us with decisive choices concerning the life we pursue here on earth and the use we make of the goods he puts at our disposal.

Jesus tells us that God alone can satisfy the deepest need and longing of our heart. St Teresa of Avila's (1515-1582) prayer book contained a bookmark on which she wrote: “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass - God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing -God alone suffices.”

Is God enough for you? God offers us the greatest good possible - abundant life in Jesus Christ (John 10:10) and the promise of unending joy and happiness with God forever. Do you seek the highest good, the total good, which is above all else?

The beatitudes which Jesus offers us are a sign of contradiction to the world's understanding of happiness and joy. How can one possibly find happiness in poverty, hunger, mourning, and persecution? Poverty of spirit finds ample room and joy in possessing God as the greatest treasure possible. Hunger of the spirit seeks nourishment and strength in God's word and Spirit. Sorrow and mourning over wasted life and sin leads to joyful freedom from the burden of guilt and spiritual oppression.

God reveals to the humble of heart the true source of abundant life and happiness. Jesus promises his disciples that the joys of heaven will more than compensate for the troubles and hardships they can expect in this world. Thomas Aquinas, (whose Feast Day we celebrated last week), said: "No one can live without joy. That is why a person deprived of spiritual joy goes after carnal pleasures." Do you know the happiness of hungering and thirsting for God alone? The Beatitudes provide guidance for the true happiness that we seek in God.

Dear Sisters, dear brethren, Over the last two months I have had the unusual opportunity to assist in the celebration of Holy Mass in two rites which I have never experienced before: the Syro-Malabar rite and the Syro-Malenkara rite; both of which are used in Kerala and are derived, as the first part of both their names suggests, from Syria, which is home to some of the most ancient Christian communities in the world, dating back to the time of the Apostles. Needless to say, these rites were very different in detail from the Roman rite which we celebrate. It is not simply that both are celebrated in other ancient languages, for in fact both these Masses were largely celebrated in English translation, because they were both ordination Masses for two students at Oscott who were ordained deacons.

As I say, the differences lie not in the language of celebration; after all, the Roman rite itself is now celebrated in hundreds of different languages, including its own ancient language of Latin, still the official language of the Roman rite. No, the differences are of many other kinds, such as the actual prayer of consecration of the bread and wine, and those prayers preparatory to that and others connected with the reception of Holy Communion.

However, one striking point of similarity to our own rite of Mass which I found in those rites from Kerala, and also in other ancient Christian rites I have experienced such as the Byzantine rite as used for instance by the Greeks, Russians and Ukrainians, is this: Throughout Christendom, whatever differences there may in the actual details of the prayers and rites of the Eucharistic sacrifice, all without exception begin with the ritual reading of Scripture before anything else is done. Think of what we do at every Mass whether on a Sunday, a feast day or a weekday: as soon as the celebrant has completed the preparatory rites including our communal act of penance, we sit down altogether to hear the Word of God in the Scriptures read out to us.

This is what happens in every Christian liturgy in the same general way. All rites of the Mass begin with a series of readings from the sacred scriptures, interspersed with chants sung by the cantor and congregation, such as our familiar Responsorial psalm and Alleluia, and culminating always in a reading from one of the four Gospels, always taking the last and most important place as recording for us the words and deeds of Christ on earth. Note that in our Roman rite, as in every rite, these readings are always taken from Scripture, the collection which is brought together in a single volume which we call the Bible, a word which actually means quite simply ‘books’.

But these books are not any merely human compositions. They are not just historical documents, or poetic imaginations, or instructions for our rule of life, or telling us what we must believe about God and our salvation. For there are many such books, some of them written by very great saints indeed, but none of these provides us with readings for the Mass. Only the scriptures are read out at Mass. Why so? Because only the Scriptures are the inspired word of God. By ‘inspired word of God’ we do not mean that God dictated the words to somebody who merely held the pen. No. The last words of divine revelation were committed to writing by the Apostles of Jesus in the New Testament.

How does God interact with the writers of the Scriptures, then? In the Sacred Scriptures God spoke through human agents but in a way which used their style, their minds, their thought processes, their history and their culture, as a means to convey His own divine meaning to us. Although inspired by the same Spirit, all the writers of the books of Scripture write in their own way. Isaiah does not write or think like Ezekiel, yet God the Spirit spoke through both of them; St Paul does not write like St John, yet the same Holy Spirit guided them in what they wrote. We say in the Creed, when proclaiming our faith in God the Holy Spirit, that ‘He has spoken through the prophets.’ Well the writings of those prophets from the Old Testament times are all recorded for us in the Scriptures, and they are among those which we read out on Sundays and weekdays at Mass.

This morning we heard in the first reading an extract from one of the greatest of the ancient prophets, Isaiah, in which the prophet foretells the preaching of the Good News in the distant future which we will hear fulfilled in the Gospel. Then we responded to that by singing psalm 26, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation’. You see how we answer God’s word in Isaiah with God’s word in the psalms. God Himself provides us with the words in which we praise, adore, thank and beg Him for mercy and help. After the psalm we heard a very different reading, from one of St Paul’s letters to the Christians of Corinth, in which Paul resolves some important questions about the Christian life and faith. Today we heard him explain that even when His followers may become divided into separate factions, Christ Himself cannot be divided up into separate parts. He is always One. So we must strive to be as well.

Then, having been seated throughout these readings and the psalm between them, we stand up as a preparation for the most important reading of all, we stand as a sign of respect: the Gospel is not read by a lay person, but only by a deacon or a priest, one who is ordained by a bishop to do this. Moreover, on solemn days like Sundays the Gospel book is carried in procession during the singing of the Alleluia from the Altar to the Lectern.

After the feast of the Baptism, the Gospel reading each Sunday for the next few weeks before Lent tells us of some event in the early public ministry of our Lord. Today we heard about the call of the first Apostles to follow Christ and His earliest preaching and healing miracles in Galilee. You can hear a similar kind of sequence of readings – always ending with the Gospel – in all the ancient rites of Christendom. And they all precede their own particular versions of the great Eucharistic Prayer in which the bread and wine are consecrated into our Lord’s Body and Blood.

Because the readings are from the ‘word of God’ which is what we mean by the Scriptures, they are given a special ritual; above all they are proclaimed from the ‘ambo’ or lectern. In many churches the ambo is a fixed stone reading desk at which the lector stands to read the sacred text in full view of the congregation. Here in Carmel we do not have a fixed ambo because it would be impossible to place one anywhere in the sanctuary that did not interfere with the view of the altar; instead there is a moveable lectern. However, the lectern is not treated simply as a reading desk, but its dignity is shown by the veil that adorns it, of the same colour as the Mass vestments. Once the Liturgy of the Eucharist has begun at the altar, nothing else must obscure the altar itself which is thereafter the centre of attention.

Nonetheless, the Book of the Gospels remains on the lectern when the lectern is put to the side of the sanctuary. Note how the Gospel book remains visible hereafter, in an honourable place, visible both to the sisters and to the laity. At the end of the Liturgy of the Word, the lectern is placed against the wall next to the Tabernacle in which the living Word of God made flesh for us is dwelling. The Gospel book stands next to the Tabernacle and beneath the sanctuary lamp, to suggest the reverence we should show to God’s word after it has been read out to us, because God’s holy word abides. It does not die away. It remains present in our midst. We venerate it when we hear it at Mass, and we continue to venerate it after Mass as it remains on the lectern for us to see it standing open here, radiating God’s word and being illuminated by the presence of Christ Himself in the Blessed Sacrament.

On this Sunday of the Word of God, I invite you, dear Sisters, to see the lectern thus placed by the tabernacle as a kind of exposition; the exposition of the word of God open towards you as you pray both during Mass and during the Divine Office which follows, your hearts illuminated both by the Body of Christ and by the word of God. That word prepares us to receive Him in Holy Communion. May that word stay in our hearts as we leave this holy place, and may we bring it to all whom we encounter until we come together here again to hear it and to celebrate the Eucharist once more.

Do you know the joy and freedom of the good news (Gospel) of the kingdom of God? John the Baptist's enemies had sought to silence him, but the good news of God's kingdom of salvation cannot be silenced. As soon as John had finished his testimony Jesus began his in Galilee. Galilee was at the crossroads of the world and much traffic passed through this little region. It had been assigned to the tribes of Asher, Naptali and Zebulum when the Israelites first came into the land (see Joshua 9). For a long time it had been under Gentile occupation (non-Jewish nations).

The prophet Isaiah foretold that the good news of salvation would reach Jews and Gentiles in the "land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations" (Isaiah 9:1). Jesus begins the proclamation of the Gospel here to fulfil the word of God. The Old Testament prophets spoke of God's promise to send a Redeemer who would establish God's rule. That time is now fulfilled in Jesus who brings the light and truth of the Gospel to the world.

Jesus takes up John's message of repentance and calls his hearers to believe in the good news he has come to deliver. What is the good news which Jesus brings? It is the good news of peace - the Lord comes to reconcile and restore us to friendship with God. The good news of hope - the Lord comes to dwell with us and to give us a home with him in his heavenly kingdom. The good news of truth - the Lord Jesus sets us free from the lies and deception of Satan and opens our mind to understand the truth and revelation of God's word (John 8:32). The good news of promise - Jesus fulfills the promise of God to reward those who seek him with the treasure of heaven. The good news of immortality - Jesus overcomes sin and death for us in order to raise our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body which will never die again. And the good news of salvation - the Lord Jesus delivers us from every fear, every sin, and every obstacle that would keep us from entering his everlasting kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy.

The Gospel is the power and the wisdom of God - both power to change and transform our lives and wisdom to show us how to live as sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord makes it possible for us to receive his word with faith and to act upon it with trust and obedience.

In announcing the good news, Jesus makes two demands: repent and believe! Repentance requires a change of course - a turning away from sin and disobedience and a turning towards the Lord with faith and submission to his word of truth and righteousness (right living according to God's truth and moral goodness). The Holy Spirit gives us a repentant heart, a true sorrow and hatred for sin and its bad consequences (the wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23), and a firm resolution to avoid whatever would lead us into sin. The Holy Spirit gives us grace to see our sin for what it is - rebellion and a rejection of the love of God. God's grace helps us to turn away from all that would keep us from his love.

Faith or belief is an entirely free gift which God makes to us. Believing is only possible by grace and the help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to God. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the mind and makes it possible for us to accept and to grow in our understanding of the truth. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit we can know God personally and the truth he reveals to us through his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe that Jesus is Lord and Saviour is to accept God's revelation of his Son as the eternal Word of God and the Redeemer who delivers us from the tyranny of sin, Satan, and death. Out of his great love for us God the Father made the supreme sacrifice of his Son on the cross to atone for our sins and to bring us back to himself.

Do you want to grow in the knowledge of God's love and truth? Ask the Holy Spirit to renew in you the gift of faith, the love of wisdom, and the heart of a disciple who desires to follow the Lord Jesus and his will for your life.

Dear Sisters, dear brethren, from now until the beginning of Lent we are once more in Ordinary Time, characterized above all by the green colour of the vestments and other liturgical hangings on the chalice, lectern and altar. Yet today, although it is the first such green Sunday, is also treated by the liturgy as a second Sunday after the Epiphany. Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, which is part of the threefold Epiphany mystery; the first of which is the Coming of the Magi, the second the Baptism of our Lord, and the third His first miracle at Cana. This year we do not have the benefit of hearing the Gospel of the miracle at Cana on this Sunday, as we heard it last year, but instead we have just heard other readings relating to the manifestation of our Lord as Saviour of the world which we have been celebrating since January 6th.

To begin at the end, we have just heard in the gospel reading how St John the Baptist understood what had happened on that solemn occasion when he baptised his kinsman, Jesus of Nazareth. This came from the fourth Gospel, that of St John the Apostle and Evangelist, as do the other gospel readings on this Sunday in other years of the lectionary cycle. St John gives us a different viewpoint of our Lord’s baptism from that we heard last Sunday, which came from St Matthew’s Gospel. In that account we heard a conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist, in which John tried at first to resist Jesus’s coming to be baptised, though eventually at our Lord’s gentle insistence he consented. On the other hand, the entirety of today’s Gospel reading was the Apostle John’s account of the Baptist’s own words on that occasion. John the Baptist begins today’s account with the words that are so familiar to us from every Mass: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, [behold him] who takes away the sin[s] of the world’. We did not hear these words last week in St Matthew’s account. What do these words mean? The lamb was in Israel the animal destined for the paschal sacrifice, to be put to death in the Temple at Passover time, and to be eaten by the people of Israel as a thanksgiving to God for their delivery from Egypt many centuries before. John is saying that Jesus is now effectively the lamb not selected for slaughter by the people but appointed to be sacrificed by God Himself; not to be the memorial of the Exodus, but to be the instrument through whom all sin would be taken away from the whole people of God.

John then says that he did not know Jesus as the Saviour until this moment, and indeed, that he had been given this role as baptizer principally in order that the Saviour might be revealed in this solemn epiphany. Last week we heard how the Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. Today we have heard John the Baptist say that when he himself saw this happen, this was the sign he was expecting that ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’

It may seem strange that John says, not once but twice, ‘I myself did not know Him’, but the reason for this declaration is important: it is so that John may make it absolutely clear to his hearers that he only knows that Jesus is the One whom he has awaited because He is the one he sees being anointed by the Spirit in the very moment of His baptism by John. The very act that John was sent to do, his mission, so to speak, and the very thing he had reied to prevent Jesus from receiving at his hands, that very thing was the means of this revelation to John: that Jesus is the chosen one of God, the Lamb who is to take away the sins of the world. And as John finally sums it up n the very last sentence, ‘I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God’. That is the crucial truth revealed here to John the Baptist which he now declares openly to all his hearers.

Now we ought also to remember that the Messiah, who was being eagerly awaited by all the people of Israel, was expected to be a great king, a warrior to lead the people in a great liberation like Moses, like Joshua, like king David, like Judas Maccabaeus – all these had freed the people of Israel from oppression in Egypt or from their neighbouring countries and foreign tribes. Now they needed someone to free them from the Romans. But John the Baptist saw something very different. John was not speaking according to the desires of the people for a leader, but from the viewpoint of the prophets, who were always those who put to the people the word of God, welcome or unwelcome as it might be.

John came from that prophetic tradition of the word of God spoken with authority. He was the last such prophet in the history of the world because it was his mission and his alone to recognise the one on whom the Spirit rested at His baptism and to declare that which no one before him had ever been able to say, nor would again ever afterwards; John was given the mission to say these words about Jesus: ‘I have seen and have borned witness that this is the Son of God.’ The Son of God had at long last entered into the world, He was present in the world He Himself had created, He had come as a man, as a child of Israel, as the Lamb who would one day in the future be sacrificed.

There is something we should add to complete this picture of John’s unique role. Go back to the first reading from one of the very greatest of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah. Isaiah speaks there the words of God to His servant, saying: ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ This would be fulfilled in Christ, as He stood in the waters of Jordan and heard the Father’s voice: ‘You are my beloved Son’.

But not only Israel, for also the whole world’s Saviour He would be: ‘I will make you a light of the nations that my salvation my reach to the ends of the earth.’

John the Baptist introduces Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). It is a most unusual description. A lamb suggests gentleness. It suggests Jesus will not condemn us when we sin but will gently encourage us to get up again. We see this in the Gospels. Just a short while after today’s Gospel passage, the evangelist says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) Jesus said to the sinner woman brought to him by the Pharisees, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:11) Later again in the Gospel, Jesus said, “I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47)

A lamb suggests gentleness. It suggests Jesus will not condemn us when we sin but will gently encourage us to get up again. Jesus does not lock people into their past but frees them to live a new life in union with him. We see many men and women in the Gospels whose lives were turned around after meeting Jesus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector known for defrauding, but Jesus accepted hospitality in his house and afterwards Zacchaeus was completely changed (Luke 19:1-10). One of the twelve apostles, Matthew, also called Levi, had previously been a tax collector and we can assume he also had been suspected of fraud before he met Jesus (Matt 9:9; Luke 5:27-28). Peter denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest but three times by the Sea of Galilee Jesus asked him if he loved him and asked him to feed his sheep (John 21). The woman who entered the house of Simon the Pharisee, while Jesus was having dinner there, showed hospitality to Jesus which the Pharisee as host should have shown to Jesus but neglected to do so. Jesus defended her and said, “her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.” (Luke 7:47) In the Gospels we truly see Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

When John the Baptist said Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he was asking his contemporaries to think in a new way because for them it would have been unthinkable to imagine that Jesus could forgive sins. When Jesus forgave the paralytic man his sins, the scribes complained and said, “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (Mark 2:7) Until then, when someone wanted his sins forgiven, he went to the temple and the priests offered an animal to God in sacrifice on his behalf. On Yom Kippur every year, the Day of Atonement, a bull and two goats were offered in sacrifice to God by the high priest in the temple to forgive sins (Lev 16). Every morning and evening all year round, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple to God in atonement for sin, and all Jews contributed to the payment of that sacrifice in a once yearly collection about a month before Passover (Ex 30:14-16; Matt 17:24. The Mishnah (m. Seqal. 1:3) tells us that on the 15th day of the month before Passover the moneychangers set up their tables in the provinces outside Jerusalem and on the 25th they set them up in the temple). So, when John the Baptist described Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he was describing Jesus in terms that they would understand but at the same time asking them to think of God’s forgiveness in a new way. Lambs no longer had to be offered in sacrifice for sins after Jesus became the lamb offered in sacrifice for our sins on the cross. His one sacrifice of himself for us for all time replaced all the Old Covenant sacrifices every day. In every Mass we are spiritually present at Calvary and receive the graces of Jesus’ sacrifice and we receive God’s forgiveness every time we confess our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Jesus is the gentle lamb always waiting for us, always waiting to lift us up again after we fall down. In the first reading, Isaiah prophesied about Jesus that he would be a light to the nations to bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:6). Jesus is always waiting to lead us into his light out of whatever darkness we are in. Jesus wants the best for you, and the best for you is his light, not darkness. Let no prejudice of any kind prevent us from going to Jesus for his forgiveness, mercy, and healing. He is the gentle lamb who offered himself in sacrifice for us once for all time, and he is always ready to make us new and take away our sins.

We cannot remember the most important day of our lives, the day we were baptized! It is the most important day because it liberated us from original sin and joined us to Jesus forever. In one sense, it seems strange that Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize him because John's baptism was a baptism of repentance and Jesus was sinless. But Jesus insisted, not because he needed John's baptism, but to show us the necessity of baptism in the lives of each of us. Later Jesus asked the apostles to baptize everyone: “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt 28:19) Early Christian tradition tells us that Jesus baptized the apostles himself in Galilee. Although this is not reported in Scripture, it makes perfect sense. So, Jesus was baptized, we are told he baptized the apostles, and he asked the apostles to baptize all nations. Jesus himself was baptized even though he didn’t need it. It was an act of humility by Jesus showing us baptism is necessary for us.

Our following of Jesus begins with our baptism. When we were baptized, we were joined to Jesus forever. Think of the importance of that moment. From that moment, you have been joined to Jesus forever. Sometimes we damage our relationship with Jesus through sin but there is always forgiveness for us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, Jesus said to him, “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.” (John 3:5). Baptism is so important a moment in our lives that Jesus describes it as “being born.” We receive our natural life from our mother and father, and in baptism we receive divine life, the life of God in us. We are born as children of God through water and the Holy Spirit. After baptism we are completely different—we are new people. We are children of God, already sharing through the Holy Spirit in the life God. We are joined with Jesus. We are children of the Father which is why we pray “Our Father.” God is your Father; what dignity God gives to each of us! I think that we will only understand fully in the next world the gift that we received at baptism. Sometimes we don’t realize who we are in the eyes of God or don’t live up to the very high dignity that God has given to each of us at baptism. Imagine, to be joined to God forever because of baptism. That means death is not the end, so we look forward to the resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the grave, we too look forward to joining him in everlasting life because we were joined to him in baptism.

This unity between you and Jesus since baptism is something that Jesus desires greatly. Jesus wants to be in your life and wants you to make room for him in your life. John the Baptist was surprised in today’s Gospel and said to Jesus, “you are coming to me?” (Matt 3:14) Jesus wants to come to you also and wants you to make room for him in your life every day. We can make room for Jesus by spending time in prayer with Jesus every day, reading some of the Gospels every day, making Jesus the most important part of every day.

Unity with Jesus since baptism is not something static; it grows and grows. Our friendship with Jesus grows when we receive our First Holy Communion and receive the other sacraments. Spiritual writers and saints tell us that our union with Jesus grows when we trust in Jesus even when disasters happen in our life. They tell us another time we grow in union with Jesus is when we act charitably towards others, not because we have to, but because we want to. So, the life of God we first received at baptism grows and grows during the years ahead. Jesus was baptized even though he didn’t need it. It was an act of

humility by Jesus to show baptism is necessary to be born again through water and the Holy Spirit to become children of God and share in God’s life forever.

Dear Sisters, dear brethren, on Tuesday last we began the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord – a word which means His manifestation in majesty. I say that we began the Epiphany then, and as those of you who have been at Mass during the week just past will know, we have continued this throughout the following days. In the coming of the Magi we celebrated the manifestation of the infant Lord to the pagans as their King, Lord and Saviour, as much as He is to the Jews who were expecting Him. And not only His manifestation, but also His adoration by the same Magi, fulfilling the words of psalm 71 which has been the responsorial psalm at Mass all week: ‘All nations on earth shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.’ For the Magi not only recognized the infant as King, God and Saviour – as the three gifts they brought show – but they fell on their knees and worshipped Him. In this way they showed the way for us, too, to follow them and to worship God made man.

Today we continue the Epiphany, but in another way. The Baptism of our Lord, although it took place some thirty years after the coming of the Magi, is nonetheless connected with that event. Why? Because, in the first place, this is a unique manifestation of the presence of God in Christ. It is the only time in the whole Gospel, indeed in all history, when all three persons of the One God are made manifest in different ways at the same time. That alone surely makes this event, the Baptism of our Lord, a moment of singular importance in His life in the world. As the Son of God rises from the water, He sees the Holy Spirit descend to rest upon Him in the bodily form of a dove, and the Father’s voice is heard from heaven pronouncing the solemn and majestic words: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom am well pleased.’ On two other occasions in history is the Father’s voice heard: at the Transfiguration and shortly before the Passion in St John’s account; while the Spirit is seen in a visible manifestation on one other occasion alone: at Pentecost in the form of what the Apostles could only describe as what seemed to be tongues of fire.

This is a wonderful manifestation, an epiphany, of all three divine persons. But for now I do not intend to examine this threefold epiphany, but rather I want to examine in detail what our Lord says to John who was at first anxious to avoid baptising His cousin. ‘I need to be baptised by you,’ he said to Jesus, ‘and do you come to me?’ John therefore can be seen to recognise that he himself, for all his holiness, is incapable of giving Jesus anything that He needs. John is baptizing as a sign of repentance for those who accept his baptism, but he knows already that Jesus not only has no need of baptism, no need of repentance, but even more than that, he knows that Jesus has something which he, John, is in need of. This is what makes Our Lord’s reply even more difficult for us to understand. He says to John, ‘Let it be so for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.’

What can this mean? What does our Lord want John to understand from this? ‘Let it be so now’, says our Lord, meaning that He and John should accept that this is something which applies particularly to this moment. Why should it be only at this moment? Well, our Lord goes on to say, ‘for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.’ Jesus’s coming for baptism is therefore something which John must accept not because Jesus needs it, but because righteousness, which is another word for justice, will be fulfilled through this particular baptism.

Jesus needs no repentance for Himself. Both He and John know this. That is why John tried to resist. Yet Jesus asks for baptism not for Himself, but to fulfil ‘all righteousness.’ But what is ‘all righteousness’? Herein lies the mystery. By the word ‘mystery’ I mean not a puzzle to tease out, but a hidden power at work through a visible sign. This is what the sacraments are: hidden powers at work through the means of signs that we can see, hear and feel. In other words, the mysteries which we call the sacraments are all powerful works of God concealed in sensible signs, whether of things such as water, oil, bread and wine, or the laying on of hands.

In His baptism, our Lord shows God’s hidden power at work. If you ever wondered what baptism really is, learn from today’s feast its true meaning and power. Baptism is not just a ceremony for naming a child. It is not just a form of enrolment in the Church. It is the fulfilment of righteousness in us. This is what our Lord was speaking about when he came to John for baptism: in His own entry into the waters of the Jordan, Jesus was Himself creating the sacrament of baptism for us as the effective and powerful instrument by which we are made righteous before God. Jesus accepted baptism for us, and not just as our representative, but to forge an instrument of salvation for us. This is what happened when we were baptized: we were taken out of the realm of sin, which is alienation from our Creator - and we were incorporated into the living body of Jesus Himself – His flesh became our flesh, and His Spirit has become our breath of life and the source of our faith.

Without baptism we cannot become sons and daughters of God. Without baptism we would not have entered the life of grace leading us to heaven. For this sacrament of baptism, then, we must not only thank God, but also resolve continually to live our lives in union with the one who has in this way transformed us bodily and spiritually. We must continually renew the grace of our baptism by frequent confession. We must strengthen His life in our bodies and souls by holy and worthy communons. And we must encourage all those we may know who do not understand or appreciate the greatness of this sacrament to ensure that they seek this source of eternal life for their children as soon as possible. Our Lord underwent baptism to fulfil all righteousness in us. Let us not ignore or undervalue so great a gift.