Why is it so important for us to gather in worship?  Or to put this on a more personal level, why is it that you come regularly here to share this Eucharist? Do you come out of obligation because you will feel guilty if you do not come?  Do you come out of habit because you have been conditioned to do so?  Those reasons will get you here but they are not the best reasons. The fundamental reason we gather together as we do each weekend is because Christ is here. Christ has promised to be here. He has told us that where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is in the midst of them. He has commanded us to share this meal in memory of Him. So when the community gathers, Christ is present. And the community gathers in order that they might encounter the Risen Christ.

Now when I say this, I am not saying that this is the only place that Christ is present. Christ is present in many places. Often when you talk to Catholics who do not come to church, they point this out to you. They will say, I do not go to church but I find Christ in my prayer. I find Christ when I read the Bible at home. I find Christ as I walk out into nature. I find Christ as I serve other people. I find Christ every weekend on the 18^th tee. I will not argue with any of those statements. Christ is found in all of those places. However, the primary place where Christ has promised to be present is here—when we gather together to worship. From the beginning of Christianity, from the evening of the Resurrection, the community gathered, and when the community gathered, Christians encountered the Risen Christ.

If Jesus takes away the sin of the world,
how come there’s so much sin left in the world?
If, on the Cross, Jesus, the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb
– if in his suffering and death he took on himself the sins of all time,
– how come there’s so much sin in the world today?

I’m afraid the answer to that question is an uncomfortable one.

Jesus did, indeed – and literally – shoulder the sin of the world.
But, in a kind of spiritual tug-of-war with Jesus:
we’re very good at holding on to the sin of the world;
we’re experts at holding on to our own sins;
we’re practiced in clinging, tenaciously,
to our many faults and failings —
rather than let Jesus take away the sin that burdens us,
that separates us
from God, from one another — and even from our own selves.

The lamb of God is the Son of God. As the lamb of God, he possesses in himself the innocence and the gentleness of a lamb. He is the sinless one that will assume sinfulness in order to save. Jesus Christ will not lead a revolution against the government of his time, rather he will preach a kingdom of love, justice and peace. To do this, the Lamb of God will become the lamb of sacrifice. He will become the scapegoat that will expose the antics of the devil. He will destroy the power of sin over humanity. He will teach humanity the power of self-sacrifice. His death will be the reference point of true love. His death will define love as self-sacrifice.

John the Baptist invites us to identify with the lamb of God. We identify with our actions and reverence for the Holy Eucharist. We identify in order to have the grace to run from occasions of sin. We identify in order to be strong in prayer. We identify in order to love as he loved. We identify with the lamb of God in order to be Holy as he is.

John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lam b of God. This is the one who takes away the sins of the world.” The expression John used is so familiar to us all that it may have lost its impact. After all, every time that we prepare for communion we hear the priest say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” What do we mean by this? Are we merely speaking figuratively or is there a concrete application of this concept to reality here in the twenty-first century? Throughout human history, there have been multiple attempts to heal society, to take away the sins of the world. I want to begin today by pointing out three of these attempts from the last century. All three were complete failures.

We live in a day and age where people are trying to make God in their own image and likeness rather than to accept that they are made in His. Rather than trying to conform themselves to God, they have performed the mental gymnastics that allow them to make God conform to themselves.

If God is able to change, or worse, be manipulated, then there are no absolutes. If Jesus is just my buddy, a warm, fuzzy, feel-good guy who is my little pal, then He will tell us only what we want to hear and He will agree with anything we come up with. This is the result of years of teaching which twists points of truth until they are no longer true.

Think, for instance, of the travesty of the 1970’s and 80’s where people were told to “follow your conscience” when it came to questions about contraception. While there is a point of truth in that the conscience is the subjective norm for moral decision making, most people neither know what conscience is nor do they have a well formed conscience. For this reason, “follow your conscience” simply means that if you want to do it and you don’t feel bad about it, then it is okay.

The reference to the Lamb makes sense, as you know, in the Jewish tradition. A lamb was sacrificed every year at the Passover. It commemorated the liberation of Israel. That sacrifice saved the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The Jews also made sin offerings as atonement for their sins (Lev 4:32-35). But the truth of the matter, is that none of these could actually take away sins (Heb 10:4). That whole system was pointing forward to what would happen someday in a final and most perfect sacrifice for sin. And John is saying: It’s happening now. God is sending His own Lamb into the world to take away sin, once and for all.

The new Lamb of God to be sacrificed once and for all had to be an unblemished sacrifice, a spotless sacrifice, a sinless sacrifice. Only then could this Lamb have power to release us from the slavery of sin. Jesus was holy. He was without sin. No original sin. And the reason He was without sin is that He was God. And now we see the connexion between the old sacrifice and the new: just as the lamb was sacrificed in Jewish homes, so too Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed. They drained its blood; likewise Jesus lost His Blood during His Passion. Just as the blood of the lamb on the door-posts was a sign of salvation from death in Egypt, so too the Blood of the Lamb of God is a sign of salvation from sin. But there was something very important about the lamb of the Jewish rite of Passover: it had to be eaten! Likewise Jesus now is ‘eaten’ in Holy Communion. No ordinary human being can be “the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” Only Jesus, the Chosen One of God, the One who existed before John, in fact, before any of us, was capable of taking away the sins of the world.

We find reference to the lamb in Isaiah 53 regarding the Suffering Servant: “…he was led like a lamb to the slaughter….” The suffering servant is the just one who suffers unjustly; he suffers in place of his brothers. Hence, the lamb is the symbol of innocence and non-violence. But there is also another meaning.

There’s also allusion to the pascal lamb. Before leaving Egypt the people of Israel slaughtered the lamb whose blood they smeared on the doorposts of their houses that served as identification, thereby saving them from the slaughter of their firstborn son which the Egyptian families suffered. They also ate the meat as source of strength for the journey.

Hence, the lamb is the sign of liberation. It signifies total self-giving for the sake of others. That’s why for expiation of sins Jews offered, among other things, a lamb as sin offering. When someone sinned it’s the animal that died in place of the sinner. Is there a better symbol for Christ than that of the Lamb of God?

Our readings today point to the fact that Jesus is God`s servant and calls us to serve others as He did. Jesus is equally the Lamb of God and He invites all Christians to unite under His one Lordship.

In the First Reading the word servant comes up three times. First, God identifies Israel as “my servant…in whom I shall be glorified”. Second, He shows that the choice of His servant was made from conception: “he who formed me in the womb to be his servant”. And third, God moves from merely identifying Israel as a servant to identifying him as the light of the nations to bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth: “It is not enough for you to be my servant…I will make you the light of the nation’s so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

This servant is a messianic figure referring to Jesus and what an all-out servant he was! When you are in serious trouble, not many come out to serve you. Jesus is the humble Servant of God. He took upon Him the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), the Servant of God, and this is an instance of His amazing humility. A servant is one chosen to office. If men have work or business to do, they choose people they are qualified to be their servant. The Lord Jesus Christ became a willing, humble, laborious, and faithful Servant for us. He even became a servant who accepted to be sacrificed for our sake.

Today, the Gospel presents Jesus as the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sins of the World. “Sacrificial lamb” refers to an innocent person who is made to suffer for other people, who may themselves be innocent or guilty of some offence and whose suffering saves others from having to suffer themselves. Every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29:38-42). Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that the Messiah, God’s servant, would be led to the slaughter like a lamb. To pay the penalty for sin, a life had to be given – and God chose to provide the sacrifice Himself. The sins of the world were removed when Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice. This is the way our sins are forgiven. (1 Corinthians 5:7). The world’s sin means everyone’s sin. Jesus paid the price of your sin by his death. You can receive forgiveness by confessing your sin to Him and asking for His forgiveness. Jesus was innocent, having done no wrong and spoken no deceit, as testified in 1 Peter 2:22. Yet He came to take away the sins of the world.

Christ, the Servant of God is also the Lamb who takes away our Sins. He has poured His mercy into the world. The Pope Reminds us in Misericordia et misera num. 2 “Mercy is this concrete action of love that, by forgiving, transforms and changes our lives. In this way, the divine mystery of mercy is made manifest. God is merciful (cf. Ex 34:6); His mercy lasts forever (cf. Ps 136). From generation to generation, it embraces all those who trust in him and it changes them, by bestowing a share in His very life”. Till today we are invited to benefit from God`s mercy. Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the Sins of the World”.

In these past weeks we have been hearing about our story – how our lives fit with the Big Story. As we learned last Sunday, the Big Story is complex because it is about the universe and all humanity. But it is also simple: everything comes down to one event – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. By knowing the Big Story we can begin to make sense of our lives and our world.

Now, in any good story the author gives a hint at the beginning – a clue about how the story will resolve itself. For example, at the beginning of The Hobbit, we meet Bilbo Baggins. He desires on thing: to lead a quiet life, that is, tend his garden and eat eleven or twelve meals a day. The last thing Bilbo wants is an adventure. We see hints, however, that he has surprising skills and courage. In the end he will use those gifts to accomplish great things. So in The Hobbit we have hints at the beginning about how the story will end.

We see something similar in our Gospel. When John the Baptist spies Jesus, he gives a provocative hint about who Jesus is and what he will accomplish. He says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

I wouldn’t be flattered if someone called me a lamb – a timid animal that others use for food and Pendleton shirts. In Jesus’ time, however, the lamb evokes much more than wool and a meal. For Jewish people the lamb has a vicarious role – a one-year-old male takes the place of the people. They put all their sins on that small animal’s back, lead him to table or altar and open the main artery of his neck. His blood flows over the table washing away misdeeds.

Jesus comes in the word of God in the readings, in the Eucharist, in the congregation and in the priest (Sacrosanctum Concilium 7):

• When the readings are proclaimed, God is speaking to us. If a line from the text strikes you, we normally understand this as God speaking to you.
• In Holy Communion, Jesus comes to you in the fullness of his body, blood, soul and divinity.
• Jesus is present in the congregation because where two or three are gathered in his name he is present in their midst (Matt 18:20).
• Jesus is present in the priest who offers Jesus to the Father just as Jesus offered himself to the Father on the cross.

Jesus comes to us in four ways when we gather here for our Sunday Mass: in the word of God, in the Eucharist, in the congregation and in the priest.

In which one of those four ways would we find it most difficult to see Jesus present? Is it in the Word of God in the readings because they are from a culture so different to ours; in Holy Communion because Jesus still looks like bread after the consecration; in the congregation because we know the faults and weaknesses of some people present; or in the priest because we wonder about his sincerity after scandals and because we can see his faults and weaknesses too?

How does Jesus take this sin away? He does it the way we take darkness away – by turning on the light. He does it the way we take loneliness away – by companionship. He does it the way we take hatred away – by introducing love. It is not an automatic process for we can choose to live in the dark, we can choose to remain isolated; we can harbour hatreds. But Jesus has shown us that there is another way. He not only shows us but he gives us his love and a share in his Spirit and grace to make it possible, should we so wish, for us to do as he does, to live as he lives and to pray and love with his heart.

Albert Camus wrote the most incisive account, I believe, of what our “fallen nature” would be without the Lamb of God that John the Baptist announced.

The Fall is a monologue-novel narrated by one Jean-Baptiste Clamence ruminating in an Amsterdam bar about a civilization of empty silhouettes interested only in fornication and entertainment.

Clamence is a fictional John the Baptist, “clamoring” in a wilderness stripped of love and hope. “When all is said and done, that’s really what I am … an empty prophet for a shabby time, an Elijah without a Messiah.”

Camus is saying that this radical self-centeredness is the essence of sin. And if we humans cannot be healed or delivered from this moral sickness, we are condemned to an endless hate not unlike Satan’s. “How intoxicating to feel like God the Father. … I sit enthroned among my bad angels. … I understand without forgiving, and above all, I feel at last that I am being adored!”

In his own life, Albert Camus apparently could not bring himself to fully believe the beloved whom John the Baptist named. But he knew that such a savior, in reversing the sin of the world and the fall of humankind, would have to be someone utterly given to the truth and wholly devoted to love.

I found this story in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul. Not that I am plugging the book, necessarily. It is just that sometimes the soul needs chicken soup. The story is entitled “Searching for a minister”. You may have heard this one before, but it is a good reminder. It begins…

“One of the toughest tasks a church faces is choosing a good minister. A member of an official board undergoing this painful process finally lost patience. He’d just witnessed the Pastoral Relations Committee reject applicant after applicant for some minor fault – real or imagined. It was time for a bit of soul-searching on the part of the committee. So he stood up and read this letter purporting to be from another applicant.

‘Gentlemen: Understanding your pulpit is vacant, I should like to apply for the position. I have many qualifications. I’ve been a preacher with much success and also had some success as a writer. Some say I’m a good organizer. I’ve been a leader most places I’ve been. I’m over 50 years of age and have never preached in one place for more than three years. In some places, I have left town after my work caused riots and disturbances. I must admit I have been in jail three or four times, but not because of any real wrong doing. My health is not too good, though I still accomplish a great deal. The churches I have preached in have been small, though located in several large cities. I’ve not gotten along well with religious leaders in the towns where I have preached. In fact, some have threatened me, and even attacked me physically. I am not too good at keeping records. I have been known to forget whom I have baptized. However, if you can use me, I promise to do my best for you.’

The board member turned to the committee and said, ‘Well, what do you think? Shall we call him?’ The good church folks were appalled! Consider a sickly, troublemaking, absent-minded ex-jailbird? Was the board member crazy? Who signed the application? Who had such colossal nerve? The board member eyed them all keenly before he replied, ‘It’s signed, The Apostle Paul.'”

God’s gift of baptism “exceeds all other gifts,” said Pope St. Leo the Great, for after baptism, God calls man “son” and man calls God “Father.”

“Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

In this Sunday’s Gospel Reading, John distinguishes between his own baptism with water and Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called John “a prophet,” and “something more than a prophet.” He called him his “messenger,” sent before him to prepare his way. Now John’s message was, “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand.”