On this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, St. John the Baptist points to Jesus as the definitive Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world through His sacrifice. However, as Tony explains, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God saves us not by our passive reception, but rather by our active participatory imitation of His life.
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34
Endnotes:
Isaiah 53:7 & 10
Isaiah 53:4-5 & 9
Exodus 12:5
St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, 9.
St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, 20-21 & 30-32.
John 15:8
John 1:14
John 15:2
1 Corinthians 1:2
Colossians 1:18
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 38.4.
Philippians 2:6-11
Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, Vol. 4: The Action, 328-329.
Tony Crescio is the founder of FRESHImage Ministries. He holds an MTS from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a PhD candidate in Christian Theology at Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the intersection between moral and sacramental theology. His dissertation is entitled, Presencing the Divine: Augustine, the Eucharist and the Ethics of Exemplarity.
Tony’s academic publications can be found here.