Dear Friends,

For six weeks, we had been anticipating and celebrating the great and solemn feast of Christmas and the reality of Godwith-us. This Sunday is the end of the first week through which Holy Church transitions into the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, and the Gospel invites us to recall the Sacrament of Baptism through which we were initiated into our Catholic faith at is reception. John, the Evangelist, sets the scene historically at the shore of the river Jordan, but proleptically transports us to the place of sacrificial love … Mt. Moriah (in the past) and Mt. Calvary (in the future). John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1: 29) So, when John the Baptist called Jesus, “THE LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD,” he was foreshadowing a future of sacrifice and atonement. His hearers knew the Temple Law and practice that every firstborn male lamb was considered sacred and would be set aside for sacrifice in Jerusalem. So, the priests furnished the shepherds with consecrated temple cloths to swaddle the newborn lambs so when they laid them in a manger to inspect them for blemishes, the lamb would be considered pure. At the same time, he was recalling the circumstances of his cousin’s humble birth. The Lamb of God, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. More profoundly, however, John answers the question that Isaac (Abraham’s beloved son of God’s promise and his future) asked his father thousands of years earlier on Mount Moriah, as recorded in Genesis … the story of the binding of Isaac (Akedah). Then God said: “TAKE YOUR SON, Isaac, YOUR ONLY ONE, WHOM YOU LOVE, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.” … So, Abraham TOOK THE WOOD FOR THE SACRIFICE AND LAID IT ON HIS SON, Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!” he said. “Here I am,” he replied. Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood, but WHERE IS THE LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE?” “My son,” Abraham answered, “GOD WILL PROVIDE THE LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE.” Then the two walked on together. (Gen. 22: 2, 6-8, my emphases) And while the whole story may seem to be troubling and mean-spirited, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews sheds light on its significance and why Abraham so readily went along with what seems to have been an unreasonable demand. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” HE REASONED THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO RAISE EVEN FROM THE DEAD … (Heb 11: 17-19)

The prophetic statement of John the Baptist becomes clear as the post-resurrection Church, reflects on the geographical significance of the Akedah in relation to the crucifixion of Jesus and what the Baptist adds when he points out the Lamb of God as the one “who takes away the sins of the world.” The Great Temple of Jerusalem was constructed on the site of Abraham’s great act of faith, which was accounted as righteousness. Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which had been shown to David his father, in the place David had prepared … (2 Chronicles 3: 1). What most people today do not realize is the fact that Mt. Calvary, the place where Jesus was crucified was only a short distance (about 0.6 mile or a little less than 11 football fields) from where the Temple stood at the time of our Lord. The point, my friends, is that at the same geographic location on this earth where God spared the life of Abraham’s beloved son of the covenant; God did not spare His only begotten Son promised from before time “for us and our salvation.”

St. Paul reminds us: Are you unaware that we, who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. … But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6: 3-4, 22-23) A birth certificate shows that we were born; a death certificate shows that we have died; a Baptismal certificate is meant to show that we died with Christ and, through Him, while born in time are destined for eternal Life. For your reflection to assist in bringing the heavenly to earth and putting our faith into practice, allow me to share that “I Believe: that it’s taking me a longer time to become the person I want to be, actually, the person God has called and created me to be; that it isn’t always enough, to be forgiven by others, sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself; and that despite my resistance to, rejection of and running away from God, He continues to love me unequivocally, remains present to me faithfully and seeks me more than I can even imagine possible. Join me in my prayer and effort to respond faithfully to His love.

Be of good cheer and have a blessed week!

Msgr. Grous