Behold the Lamb of God!
Pastor’s Column
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 16, 2011
Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb!
Behold! These words above are part of the new translation of the Mass that we will begin using this Advent 2011, and part of the text is taken from this Sunday’s gospel (John 1:29-34). Let’s remember the current wording for a moment so that we can compare the two:
This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.
The first thing to notice is that most of the coming changes will highlight the biblical nature of each part of the Mass with more accurate quotes from the scriptures. This new translation offers us a rich and deep spiritual encounter with the mystery of the sacrificed and risen Christ. Our translation at the Lamb of God is moving from the rather pedestrian “This is…” to “Behold.” Behold – we hear it twice. Yes, the Eucharist being held by the priest really is the Lamb of God, but the word behold invites us further into the mystery we celebrate and are about to receive at communion.
What does it mean to behold the Lamb of God? These are not just the church’s words – John the Baptist used them as he watched Jesus approaching him to be baptized. To behold is to be invited to contemplate a deep mystery. To behold is to ponder a truth so great we can never reach the end of it. When we behold the Lamb of God at Mass, we are in fact beholding the very same Jesus that John saw two thousand years ago!
Using this word in the Mass at the Lamb of God, after an absence from the liturgy of 40 years, invites all of us to learn to behold. Life is full of unnoticed mysteries! We find Our Lord in so many places, much as John the Baptist did, but sometimes Jesus prefers to be not so obvious. Why is this? He wishes to be searched for, recognized, pointed out, discovered, and when we spot Him we say, “Behold! Here He is! He has been with me all this time and I did not recognize Him.”
Where do we “behold” Him? We will find Jesus hidden in the circumstances of our lives, in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures, in our sufferings, in coincidences, in life and even in death. In every deep mysterious encounter of our lives with Christ, we are invited to become people who have learned to behold, to ponder the mystery and make it our own.
Father Gary
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