The Sunday Word

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Christmas decorations have all been carefully placed in their boxes and packed away in the Community storage closet for another year. We also see that the Christmas cycle is complete and this coming weekend finds us at the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time.

This Sunday's Gospel comes from Saint John which is a little bit of a difference. This Second Sunday Gospel continues to focus on manifestations of Jesus as the Christ and thus the change of seasons is softened.

The first reading is from Isaiah, from his "servant songs" which Christians have long understood in terms of Christ the Servant. The second reading introduces seven weeks of readings from 1 Corinthians. This week's brief passage is the opening salutation from this letter.