[Isaiah 49:3,5-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John1:29-34]
‘Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’, these words from John the Baptist and repeated at every Mass draw our attention to Jesus. In the times before Jesus, lambs would be sacrificed in the temple as a sin offering to re-establish relationship with God [Lev 32-35]. Jesus is the lamb of God; he frees the temple animals [Jn 2:13-22] as they are no longer needed. Jesus once and for all takes away the sin of the world by his death and resurrection.[1]
John the Baptist had one key role in life and that was to point towards Jesus, to let the people know that the Messiah had come. As Baptised Christians, we share that role, we have a duty, through our Baptism to point people towards Jesus. We do this through what we say and what we do. It is not enough for us to turn up at Mass each week, listen to the Word of God, receive Jesus in the Eucharist then go home and get on with our life. This is not good enough. When we hear the Word of God, we need to let it enter into our hearts and move our hearts into action. This action is to love God and love our neighbour by sharing God’s love with them. By receiving the Body of Christ in the Eucharist we receive God’s grace which gives us the Spiritual energy, the courage and the confidence to do God’s work. John the Baptist had this grace in abundance through the power of the Holy Spirit; he even had it in his mother’s womb.
There are times in life when I feel called to do something or when I am asked to do something which troubles me, when I am way out of my comfort zone. I judge that these are times when my natural gifts are suited elsewhere or when I come away thinking I have wasted my time. Often forgetting that I do not see the big picture in those instances and that if I do God’s will, He knows what difference I have made. I wonder if John the Baptist ever felt like that? If he did, then surely his encounter with Jesus by the River Jordan at Bethany, dispelled all of those negative feelings. His mission was realised that day! He had been told that the one on whom the Holy Spirit descended and rested that He is the Son of God. John saw this and bore witness to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Above the alcove where the tabernacle is in St Bede’s Church, there are the words Ecce Agnus Dei; Behold the Lamb of God. Every time we enter the church we are reminded of those words of John the Baptist. Jesus[2] is present with us in the Eucharist just as He was present for John the Baptist at Bethany. Our mission is to bring more people to Him, to point to those words and tell people that Jesus is with us, just as He promised us that He would be – until the end of time [Mt 28:20].
Further Reading
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
CCC 604-609: Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away sins of all
CCC 689-690: mission of Son and Holy Spirit[3]
Please remember in your prayers
- All those who are sick, either at home or in hospital, especially those who have very few or no visitors.
- Those who have died and those who grieve for them.
- All people affected by war and that international treaties for the protection of non-combatants and civilians are respected and adhered to.
- All those attending the RCIA programmes.
- Those attending the Youth Alpha programme which is a prerequisite for the Confirmation programme in our Pastoral Area.
- The success of the Pastoral Area Mission Plan.
- For the families completing the Baptism Preparation Programme at St Bede’s this weekend.
Deacon Tony
17th January 2026
[1] Maria Power & Raymond Friel, Pastoral Review Vol 22 Issue 1, [The Tablet Publishing Company Limited, London, 2025] 75.
[3] Homiletic Directory, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments