RECOGNIZING THE SAVIOR IN OUR MIDST

Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

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

A young man once told me how he missed a life-changing opportunity simply because he did not recognize it. He ignored an unfamiliar phone number, only to discover later it was a job offer he had prayed for. Today’s liturgy is about recognition - about seeing, naming, and responding when God stands right before us.

Today’s Gospel passage opens with John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and proclaiming: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). This is not a casual title. It is deeply theological. John is identifying Jesus with the Passover lamb whose blood saved Israel in Egypt (Exod 12), and with the suffering servant of Isaiah who was “like a lamb led to the slaughter” (Isa 53:7). In other words, from the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, His mission is clear: He comes to save through self-giving love and sacrifice.

John says, “I did not know him” - not once, but twice. This is striking. John knew Jesus personally, yet he admits that true recognition required divine revelation. Faith is not mere familiarity with religious language or customs; it is the grace of seeing with God’s eyes. John recognizes Jesus not by appearance but by the Spirit who descends and remains upon Him. This teaches us that Christ is known not simply by effort, but by openness to the Spirit.

The First Reading from Isaiah deepens this revelation. The servant of the Lord is chosen from the womb, formed for a mission, yet told that his task is “too little” if it stops with Israel alone. God declares: “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isa 49:6). The Lamb of God is not only for a few; He is for the whole world. Salvation is expansive, outward-looking, missionary. To encounter Christ is to be drawn into God’s universal plan.

Saint Paul, in the Second Reading, reminds the Corinthians and us that this mission continues in the Church. He addresses them as those “called to be holy” (1 Cor 1:2). Holiness here is not moral perfection reserved for a few, but a shared identity and vocation. Those who behold the Lamb are also sent. Christianity is not a private comfort; it is a public witness.

There is a clear movement in today’s readings: revelation leads to identity, and identity leads to mission. John points. Jesus is revealed. The Church is sent. The danger for many Christians today is that we stop at recognition without response. We behold the Lamb at Mass, we hear His Word, but we hesitate to let that encounter shape how we live, forgive, speak, and serve.

This Sunday invites us to ask: Do I truly recognize who Jesus is not just in doctrine, but in daily life? And if I do, where is He sending me? The Lamb of God still takes away the sins of the world, but He chooses to do so through hearts willing to see, to believe, and to follow.