Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

JOHN 1:35-42
TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF SAMUEL TO SERVE GOD AS THE LAST OF THE JUDGES. WE ALSO HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF ANDREW AND PETER TO FOLLOW JESUS. AND ST PAUL TALKS ABOUT HONORING GOD WITH OUR BODIES. IS THERE A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH ALL THE READINGS?
ANDREW THE APOSTLE TELLS PETER, “WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH”. SO THE QUESTION COMES TO MIND, “WHAT IS THE MESSIAH?” THE JEWS BELIEVED THAT THE MESSIAH WAS A FIGURE WHO WAS GOING TO ENTER HISTORY AND MAKE RIGHT EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRONG. HE MIGHT COME AS A KING, PROPHET, PRIEST, OR ALL THREE, BUT HIS PRESENCE WOULD USHER IN A NEW AGE, AN AGE WHEN THINGS WOULD BE MADE RIGHT.
THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME SAW THE WORLD AS FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD, BUT REALLY MESSED UP. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS, BUT THEY WERE A TINY LITTLE PROVINCE OF ROME WITH NO REAL INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD AT LARGE. ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WERE SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM THE JEWS, (WHO HAD HAD A SPECIAL REVELATION OF GOD) AND JERUSALEM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CITY TO WHICH ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH CAME. BUT JERUSALEM WAS A LITTLE BACKWOODS CAPITAL EXISTING ONLY BECAUSE THE ROMANS PERMITTED IT. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LAW WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXAMPLES TO THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT THE BEST LAW FOLLOWERS, THE PHARISEES WERE A MINORITY OF THE JEWS IN JESUS' TIME. THE SUCCESSFUL JEWS WERE THE SADDUCEES, THE ONES WHO HAD BECOME LIKE THE GREEKS.
ST. PAUL HAD A VISION. WHEN YOU READ HIS WRITINGS, YOU SEE THAT THINGS WERE REVEALED TO HIM IN A FLASH, AND HE SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT HE LEARNED. PAUL WASA PHARISEE, DEEPLY IMMERSED IN JEWISH THOUGHT OF HIS TIME. AND HE TELLS US THAT WHEN YOU DIED, YOU WOULD SPEND A PERIOD OF TIME IN A HEAVEN, BODILESS, RESTING, BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND THEN AT SOME POINT IN TIME, AT THE END OF THE PRESENT AGE, THE MESSIAH AND ALL THOSE WHO DIED WOULD COME BACK TO THIS WORLD, AND TAKE UP WHERE THE MESSIAH HAD LEFT OFF, MAKING THINGS RIGHT.
AND MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW IT, BUT WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THIS BASIC IDEA. YOU AND I THINK OF HEAVEN AS A PLACE OF REST, A PLACE WHERE WE WILL SIT ON A CLOUD AND PLAY A HARP AND EAT AND DRINK WITHOUT GETTING FAT. BUT WHEN WE SAY THE CREED, WE SAY THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY; AND THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE COMING OF CHRIST TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT THERE WILL BE A TIME WHEN GOD CREATES A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, OUT OF THE OLD ONE; JUST AS HE GIVES US NEW BODIES WHICH WILL HAVE SOME CONNECTION WITH OUR OLD ONES, BUT WILL BE LIKE THE RESURRECTED BODY OF JESUS, WITHOUT LIMITATION. THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THAT THE PEOPLE WHO BELONGED TO GOD WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE NEW CREATION; THEY WOULD HAVE A HAND IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE WORLD OVER AGAIN, THE WORLD THAT WOULD BE DONE RIGHT, THE WORLD WHERE JUSTICE AND MERCY AND PEACE WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. THIS IS THE THEME OF THE BEATITUDES; BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SORROW, FOR THEY WILL REJOICE.
SO WHAT IS THE MESSIAH? HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTS THIS PROCESS. WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE MOMENT CAME ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AND THAT WE ARE ALREADY LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE THE WORK OF GOD TO CREATE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH HAS ALREADY BEGUN. BECAUSE THE MESSIAH HAS COME, WHAT WE DO NOW TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT IS A BEGINNING FOR THAT TIME WHEN GOD AND ALL THE BLESSED DEAD RETURN TO EARTH TO CREATE A KINGDOM THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, WHICH WILL HAVE AS ITS KING, PRIEST, AND PROPHET, JESUS HIMSELF. AND WE WILL HAVE BODIES, BECAUSE BODIES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR US TO BE HUMAN. AND WE WILL WORK, BECAUSE THAT IS HUMAN TOO, AND WE WILL FIND JOY IN WORK AS WE BUILD UP A NEW WORLD, BECAUSE OUR WORK WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN, WILL NEVER BE FRUSTRATED. AND THAT WILL OCCUPY US FOR ALL ETERNITY.
BUT THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN START RIGHT NOW. LOOK AT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, MAKE THEM BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT, ESPECIALLY YOUR MARRIAGES, BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET TO THE NEW EARTH, YOU WILL BE MAKING EVERY RELATIONSHIP PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS LONELY, BE THEIR COMPANION, BECAUSE IN THE NEW EARTH THERE WILL BE NO LONELINESS. IF YOU HAVE THE MEANS TO MAKE A POOR PERSON'S LIFE A LITTLE BETTER, DO IT, BECAUSE ON THE NEW EARTH, THERE WILL BE NO POVERTY. IF YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT INJUSTICE, THEN DO SO, BECAUSE IN THE WORLD TO COME, THERE WILL BE ONLY JUSTICE.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT THE MESSIAH WILL COME AGAIN, THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED, AND GOD'S WORLD WILL FINALLY COME ABOUT. IF WE ARE ALREADY ENGAGED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH, WE CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN TO FEEL THE JOY THAT WE WILL HAVE IN THAT NEW WORLD, WHERE GOD HIMSELF WILL JOIN HIS PEOPLE IN BUILDING UP THE WORLD TO COME, THE WORLD THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, THE WORLD WHERE WE WILL NEED NO SUN OR MOON, BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THE LIGHT.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT WE ARE TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – RIGHT NOW, TODAY. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – THAT IS TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT. SO LET US BEGIN TODAY.