Our Sabbath Scripture Stories – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Read or listen to this Sunday’s Mass readings here.

  • Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
  • 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
  • John 1:29-34

A beautiful new snowfall caught all the Paulines by surprise this morning.  Yesterday, the streets and snowbanks were all brown and muddy-looking from all the melting.  The snowplows had pushed all the sand and salt across the landscape.  But this morning, everything looked fresh and white again!  It was dazzling!

“Come on, Kids!  It’s time for the Gospel reading for this morning!” Dad called out.  Everyone pulled themselves away from the picture window and came into the living room.

“Our Gospel reading for today tells us about Baptism, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus as the Chosen One of God,” Dad said.  “And I want you to listen extra close today because it has a riddle inside it!”

“Oh boy!” Vincent yelped.  “I love riddles!”  And he sat down with his gaze fixed on his dad, eager to hear every word.

Dad read the Gospel reading and looked across at his family.  “Okay, who heard the riddle?”

Mary Clare piped up.  “I did!” she said.  “It was right at the beginning of the reading.”

“Absolutely, Mary Clare,” Dad agreed. “It says here, “ ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ “ (John 1:30)       Now … who can tell me what the riddle means?”

“Jesus … ” four-year-old Hillary volunteered.

“That’s right, Hillary!” Dad chuckled, knowing that Jesus was the right answer to most of his questions.

Mom added, “Yes, John the Baptist was making clear that Jesus was superior to him so there was no confusion among the people.  Jesus was the Messiah that was foretold by the prophets.”

“Daddy?” Lucy asked.  “I have a question.”

“Yes, what is it, Lucy?” Dad asked her.

“You know, they always call Jesus the Lamb of God, and we even sing about it at church before Communion,” Lucy said.  “What exactly does Lamb of God mean?”

“That is a great question, Lucy!” Dad replied.  “Vincent, will you please go get my Catechism?  Let’s look up Lucy’s question to see what it says.”

Vincent ran for the Catechism.  Dad scanned the pages.

“Ah-ha!  Here it is!” he said.  “This is from Paragraph 608.  It says here, ‘John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel’s redemption at the first Passover.”

“Yes, the Lamb of God was spotless,” Mom added, as she looked across the room to the window.  “It was white and pure as a new snowfall.”

Vincent had to agree.  “After hearing all of this, the riddle of this Gospel reading wasn’t a riddle at all!  The answer to everything is JESUS!“

“Now I have seen and testified

that he is the Son of God.”

(John 1:34)

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Cycle A, 2 OT, SSSDownload

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