Readings for Sunday January 16, 2011

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Summary of the Gospel by YM Central

As the Church enters ordinary time (meaning that the time is ‘ordered’, not ‘boring’), we find ourselves at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Reminiscent of Advent and Christmas, Ordinary time begins with St. John the Baptist. The purpose of today’s Gospel reading is to refocus us on the true identity of Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist first tells us that Jesus is the Lamb of God. This brings us back to the Old Testament and the Passover Lamb, which was slaughtered in order to protect the Israelites from death. Jesus is the fulfillment of that original Passover Lamb and His purpose is to take away the sin of the world and protect us from spiritual death. Thus, the center of the ministry of Jesus is one of reconciling us with the Father. Next, St. John the Baptist describes Jesus as existing before him, yet we know that John was conceived and born first. John is teaching us that Jesus is no ordinary human being, but rather has eternal existence. Jesus is divine, plain and simple. St. John the Baptist’s ministry is to make Jesus known to Israel, and to testify to His identity. (You would think that St. John was tight with Jesus, yet twice John says, ‘I did not know him’.) St. John says that the Spirit came down upon Jesus, marking the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and testifying to the Spirit’s role in bringing Christ to others. Finally, St. John describes Jesus as the One who will baptize not just with water (as St. John did), but with the Holy Spirit. What St. John the Baptist has done here is lay out a clear picture of Who Jesus is. He is the One Who will bring us to life in the Spirit, reconciling us to the Father. In a similar way, you and I are called to be St. John the Baptist’s in our own world. While it would not be appropriate for us to dress like St. John the Baptist, it is necessary that we see ourselves as prophets in our daily life. This may scare you, but God has given us all the tools we need in our baptism to go out and get the job done. How can we be Christ’s prophetic voice in the world? First, God calls us to live lives of holiness, free from sin. This means that our family, our friends, our co-workers need to see in our actions and attitudes the difference that Christ makes. We may not say word one about Jesus, but people should be able to see our joy – and that joy should be attractive to others. With this comes the responsibility to be able to express to others the reason for our joy – if anyone asks us its source. Many Catholics struggle with the responsibility of being a prophet in the world, yet no-one can take your place in God’s plan of salvation. Remember – if you say ‘no’ to God, we have no evidence that God has a backup plan to reach those in your life for Christ. May we have the ability to heed the words of St. John the Baptist and make a place for Christ in our lives so we can have fellowship with the Father and the new life that Christ brings us.




Reading 1 Isaiah 49:3, 5-6

3 The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. 5 Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! 6 It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why does the Lord call his servant by the name Israel (verse 3) if he is speaking to an individual with a mission to Israel?
2. In his discouragement, what promises does the servant receive from God?
3. Choose verses in Isaiah 49 that you think sound like they describe Jesus Christ—His ministry, His power, or His love—and explain why you chose the verses you did.

Reading 2 1 Corinthians 1:1-3

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions:

1. What kind of place was Corinth?
2. Why would Paul emphasize in verse one that he is an Apostle?
3. Who is Sosthenes? Where else can he be found in the Bible? (see attached story on Sosthenes)

Gospel John 1:29-34

29 John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. 33 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.’ 34 Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Why would St. John the Baptist say that he did not know Jesus? Did they grow up together as cousins? Is St. John the Baptist, perhaps, talking on a deeper spiritual level? If so, what is he trying to say?
2. Who, in your life, has been a person to help you focus on the true identity of Christ? Describe how they helped you learn to love Jesus.
3. The purpose of St. John the Baptist’s life was to give testimony to Christ. Based on your actions and the way you live your life, what is the purpose of your life? If you had to give testimony to Christ’s identity with your life, what would you say about Him?
4. What does Baptism mean to you? (See attached renewal of Baptism promises)


Renewal of Baptismal Promises________________________________________
After the homily the candidates stand and the bishop questions them:

Bishop: Do you reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises?

Candidates: I do.

Bishop: Do you believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?

Candidates: I do.

Bishop: Do you believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord,
who was born of the Virgin Mary,
was crucified, died, and was
buried, rose from the dead,
and is now seated at the right
hand of the Father?

Candidates: I do.

Bishop: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who came upon the apostles
at Pentecost
and today is given to you
sacramentally in confirmation?

Candidates: I do.

Bishop: Do you believe in the holy
catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting?

Candidates: I do.

Bishop: This is our faith. This is the faith
of the Church.
We are proud to profess it
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All present: Amen.

Enjoy the readings and pass them on-tommyk


Paul and Sosthenes
In the Word Today

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak today. In today’s lesson, we are going to be looking at Acts chapter 18, so if you have your bibles and would like to follow along with me as we go through this story, go ahead and open your Bibles to Acts 18. Acts chapter 18 is one of my favorite stories from the early church and it’s a story about an individual whom most people have never heard of before. He’s in the bible, but most pastors don’t look at this guy, most Sunday School classes pass right over him, and yet, to my thinking, he is a person that we really need to study a bit. His name is Sosthenes. Am I right? Have you ever heard of Sosthenes? I didn’t think so. Let me tell you his story.
We actually have to look at the apostle Paul for this story, because Paul and Sosthenes are linked together in Acts chapter 18. Let me give you a bit of background. As many of you know, when Paul was ministering, he traveled around a lot. On his missionary journey, Paul would go to a certain city, preach and minister there for a while. Usually he would start a church, get the church going, and then he would pick up his feet and move on to another city to repeat the process of planting churches. Right before this story takes place, Paul had been in the Greek city of Athens, and verse 1 of Acts chapter 18 tells us that Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. For some reason, Claudius did not like the Jewish people, so he told all the Jews in Rome that they had to leave. He kicked them out of the city and made them live elsewhere. This edict of the emperor has been found in various Roman writings, not just in the Bible. We know from these other historical sources that this edict by the emperor Claudius took place in 49 AD. At the time, Christianity was seen by the Romans as a sect of Judaism, so when the emperor ordered all the Jews out of Rome, all the Christians had to leave as well. So because of this edict, Aquila and Priscilla left Rome and moved to Corinth.
Follow with me as we pick up in verse 3. Because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
Well wasn’t that nice of Paul. He works and teaches until his two friends Silas and Timothy show up, and then he tells them, “Glad you’re here. Go out and get jobs to support us, I’m going to just teach and preach.” So Paul continues his ministry for a while. Verse 6. 6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
Can you picture Paul standing up in front of everyone and protesting? I can almost hear his loud, boisterous voice as he storms out of the synagogue. But what I find very interesting is what Paul does next. Verse 7. 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.
I find that statement intriguing. In many churches today, when the weather gets cold, we put on the heater, and when the weather gets hot, we turn on the air conditioner. But, in first century Corinth they didn’t have the luxury of air conditioning, so when things got hot during the summer, they opened the windows in the synagogue. And guess what? All the people in the synagogue could still hear Paul loud boisterous preaching even though he was not in the room, he was next door. Paul’s goal was to bring salvation to everyone, even those that didn’t want to hear it, like the Jews in the synagogue in Corinth. So even though he stormed out of the synagogue in protest at his treatment, he didn’t give up, but used a bit of trickery to keep the word of God in front of the Jews.
In fact, his plan worked so well, that some of the Jewish people accepted Christ. Look at verse 8 with me. 8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
Wow, even the synagogue ruler became a Christian. Isn’t it amazing the way God brings people to him. This guy wasn’t even in the same building with Paul, and yet Paul’s message got through to him.
Well let’s see what happens to Paul next. Follow along with me as I pick up in verse 9
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." This is where the story gets interesting. Can you imagine what Paul is going through at this point. Here he is, preaching and teaching, having a great ministry, and one night God shows up and tells him. “Um, Paul. I don’t want you to worry about what is going to happen to you.” Man. If I was Paul, I’d probably want to tell God, “You know God, I’ve suffered a lot for you in my life. I’ve been beaten numerous times, thrown in prison, shipwrecked. It’s been tough. I have a good ministry going here, and I really like it here. I’m not interested in being abused again. Can’t you choose someone else this time?”. May be Paul thought that rather than stay and face abuse, he would pick up and leave Corinth for another town. He could rightly say that the church there was growing and that it was time for him to move on.
But I find what he did instead very interesting. Verse 11 says 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. Paul decides to do what God wants him to do and stays there in Corinth, knowing that something is going to happen to him.
As Paul Harvey says, let’s look at “The Rest of the Story”. Follow along with me as we start reading in verse 12.
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. The Jewish synagogue people are so angry at Paul because he’s converting so many of their members, that they have him arrested and thrown into jail.
13 "This man," they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."
14.Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law--settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things." You see, Gallio was the Roman judge that was responsible for keeping Pax Romana, the rule of Rome. His job was to make sure that people followed Roman law. Here he tells the Jews that Paul has not broken any Roman laws so he’s not even going to deal with the court case. Look what he does in verse 16. 16 So he had them ejected from the court. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had some judges here in the United States that would see dumb court cases for what they are and throw them out. It would definitely make things better here. And that’s what Gallio does in Corinth. He realized that no roman laws were broken, and that the Jews are just out to get Paul, so he throws the court case out and humiliates the Jews who brought the case.
Well that doesn’t sit well with the Jewish people, and they get angry. The interesting thing is who they get angry with. They don’t get angry with Gallio. They don’t get angry with Paul, instead, they get angry with their own leader of the synagogue, and here is where our good friend Sosthenes comes in. Look what it says in verse 17. 17 Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. They get so angry that they turn on their own leader and start to beat him up right there. I find it interesting what Gallio does, as the judge in the case. Verse 17 finishes up. But Gallio showed no concern whatever. These people are causing a riot in front of his courthouse, something that IS breaking Roman law and something that he SHOULD be involved in, but Gallio seems to have taken the position that Sosthenes deserves the beating he is getting, so he doesn’t do anything to stop the riot.
I know that if I was Paul, I’d want to get over there into that riot and take a couple of shots at Sosthenes myself. I’d be thinking that Sosthenes deserved the beating he was getting.
“That’s for throwing me in jail. That’s for causing me problems.” The bible, however, doesn’t tell us what happens. In fact, in the book of Acts, this is the only place where we find Sosthenes. It seems like the story ends there. But it actually doesn’t.
As many of you know, Paul wrote a lot of letters to various churches, many of which are in the Bible. Whenever Paul wrote, he almost always started out with some kind of an introduction. Usually his letters begin with something like “Paul, and apostle of Jesus Christ, to the church at Such and such a place, Grace, peace and mercy to you.” Something like that. What most people overlook, is that often when Paul wrote, he included in his introduction a list of the people who were with him. For example, in 2 Corinthians 1:1 it says, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth.” In 1 Thessalonians 1:1 it starts out, “Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians” In the beginning of Galatians, Paul has so many people with him, he just writes from Paul, “And all the brothers with me”
Well look at this. This is so cool. Turn in your bibles and look at 1 Corinthians 1:1. Look what it says, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes.” What happened? How did Sosthenes name get here in 1 Corinthians? Well, I’ll tell you. Sosthenes has become a Christian. Is it the same Sosthenes? Well, how many Sosthenes do you know in the bible? Really, the key comes in to whom this letter was written. Paul is writing to the Corinthian church. Where was Sosthenes from? From Corinth. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and he tells them, “Hey, you remember Sosthenes? He’s here with me.”
How did Sosthenes become a Christian. Well unfortunately, the bible doesn’t tell us. I have my own idea how it happened, and I’d like to give you my idea. This isn’t found in the Bible, but it is logical based on what we see happening. I think that Paul saw Sosthenes getting beat that day, and after they had taken Sosthenes to the hospital, or his home, or wherever they took him, Paul went to visit him, and minister to him. I think Paul’s ministry resulted in Sosthenes becoming a Christian. I think that Sosthenes saw Jesus in Paul and wanted to have the same peace through tough times that Paul had, and Sosthenes turns from being someone who hated Christianity and hated Paul, to someone who helped Paul and, I would venture to say, a hero of the Christian faith. It makes sense to me that Paul led Sosthenes to Christ and Sosthenes, out of gratitude to Paul, began to travel with Paul on his missionary journeys and helping Paul out as Paul brought others to Christ.
The key verses in this story is Acts 18:9-10 where God comes to Paul and tells him, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” For I am with you” Paul had the choice to tell God he wasn’t going to do it, but he didn’t do that. And because he followed God, an amazing thing happened. He got to lead one of his enemies to Christ, and made him his brother.
What about you today? Are you fighting against Christianity and fighting against God like Sosthenes was? God wants to make himself known to you today. It doesn’t matter what you have done, God still loves you and wants to have that personal relationship with you. Even if you fight against God, he still is willing to forgive you and love you. You just have to accept Jesus as your Savior. What are you going to do? Are you going to turn your life over to him like Sosthenes, or are you going to keep fighting. The choice is yours. It is my hope that today you do choose to follow God.