Celebrate Sunday Mass - 1.17.21

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1/17/2021 (3 years ago)

By Deacon Keith Fournier

January 17, 2021 - The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Catholic Online Community and Catholic Online School students...

I AM HAPPY TO OFFER EACH OF YOU AN INVITATION TO SUNDAY MASS ON THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME in the Catholic Diocese of Tyler. The response to offering these beautiful liturgies has been overwhelming. The readings, as always, offer so much for us to reflect on. It is helpful to pray through them and reflect upon them before we assist at Holy Mass.

Our first reading for Holy Mass, is taken from Chapter three of the Book of Samuel. We hear of the call of the Lord to the young, soon to become, prophet names Samuel. He was ministering under the leadership of Eli. Eli was an old man whose eyesight was failing. And, at the time this call came to the young Samuel, we read (in the first verse of this same chapter), "the word of the Lord was rare in those days and there was no frequent vision."

It takes several times before Samuel, with the help of the elderly Eli, finally discerns that the voice he was hearing, the call he was receiving, was not coming from Eli, but from the Lord. Not only is this account part of the history of the Lords wonderful dealings with Israel, but it also has a spiritual lesson for all of us. We need to learn to listen for the call of the Lord. And, through prayer and growth in the Christian life, we can learn to hear His voice on a regular basis.

In our Responsorial Psalm, we hear that David, the Psalmist and Prophet, did just that. He learned to hear the voice of the Lord. And, once he did, he was compelled to share it with others. Listen to his words "See, I will not hold my tongue, as you well know. I have not kept your saving justice locked in the depths of my heart but have spoken of your constancy and saving help. I have made no secret of your faithful and steadfast love, in the great assembly." That is what happens to each one of us when we begin to hear the Lord speaking to us. We want to share it with everyone.

Our Second Reading is taken from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthians. To understand it, the context is helpful. At Corinth, Paul found that the believers were becoming confused about the full teaching of the Gospel. They were being led astray by some false teachers who were ministering and sharing their errant doctrines right within the Church. In the portion we hear on this Lords Day, the Apostle Paul is correcting immoral behavior in the community.
At root, this immoral behavior revealed a failure to understand that the Lord came to save the whole person - body, soul, and spirit. The teaching of the Church is that redemption will be complete when we, like the Lord Himself, are raised bodily from the dead when Jesus Christ returns. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. They are NOT simply some form of carrying case for the soul. NO. We are Christians. We profess in our creeds and the Bible and tradition are clear, Jesus assumed a human Body and was raised in a glorified Body. He has come to save the whole person.

Do we believe this? How do we view our body?

The Gospel for this Second Sunday in Ordinary time is taken from the first chapter of the fourth Gospel, the one written by the beloved disciple John. It contains the call of the first disciples in response to the witness of John the Baptizer. John pointed to Jesus, saying "THERE IS THE LAMB OF GOD". We hear their response to Jesus. They asked Him where He was staying and He said to them, "Come and See".

Jesus is calling each one of us to follow Him. He invites each one of us to "come and see". At every Holy Mass, we hear His Word proclaimed. He is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us, so that we could be freed from the penalty of sin and made new. Freed so that we too will be raised from the dead at the last trumpet! Death is defeated. The tomb is empty.

At the Altar, we are invited to receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Most Holy Eucharist. Do we believe this? Is it changing our lives as it changed the lives of the early Christians?

It can. It should.

May the Lord bless you, your families, the Church, and the Nations of the world on this Lord's Day.

Deacon Keith Fournier
Dean of Catholic Online School
Chaplain of Your Catholic Voice Foundation

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