There is the Lamb of God
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Today I am pleased to join you for the Feast of Santo Nino de Cebu. Today we honour the Lord under a devotion closely linked to the Christian history of Cebu. We go back five centuries, to the year 1521, to the first encounter of the people of Cebu with the Christian faith. It is linked to the great Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, and the conversion to the Christian faith of Rajah Humabon, the local ruler, and many of his people. The image of the child Jesus was a baptismal gift of the explorer to the Christian ruler.
The image is of the child Jesus adorned with kingly robes. This child born in obscurity in Bethlehem; born in poverty and vulnerability in a stable, is in fact the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This statue honours his true identity.
It is most appropriate that this feast is celebrated in close proximity to Christmas. Indeed, the fiesta starts on the Thursday after Epiphany. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of the child Jesus to the nations, represented by the three wise men. The wise men gave him gifts of gold and incense suited to his kingly status.
The story of the statue is that after being lost, it was discovered in the water some forty years later by Juan Carlos, a Spanish mariner. Its discovery was considered miraculous and the statue of the child Jesus became a source of miracles.
Today culminates a novena of Masses held in Cebu. The feast is celebrated on the third Sunday in January. Today in Cebu there are great celebrations in honour of Santo Nino as the statue is carried in procession to Basilica Menor.
Here in Bridgewater we unite with the celebrations there. We honour the Lord Jesus and rejoice that he is with us, watching over us and protecting us. We celebrate with great joy, knowing that miracles flow from Christ.
In the Gospel for this Sunday John the Baptist points to Jesus and says, “Look there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” It is a most unusual way of describing Jesus, yet it expresses a deep truth about the mission of Jesus.
The depiction of Jesus in Santo Nino is as a child, a royal child, the child who is king. Yet he was the child who came to save humanity. He would do this ultimately by becoming the Lamb of Sacrifice. He would, by his death on the cross, take away the sins of the world. He was the king who would die for his people.
St John the Baptist prefigured the saving death of Jesus, and captured in this title of Lamb of God the meaning of his coming among us. He is the incarnate Son of God born to die for us.
At this Mass in a short while the priest will hold up the consecrated host just before Holy Communion and declare in the words of St John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” At that moment we fix our gaze on the Lord present before us. Our focus is totally upon him.
Jesus our Lord is truly present among us. Jesus our Lord is the one who has saved us from our sins.
Today at this Mass let us focus our attention on this moment and realise its significance. Let us contemplate what Jesus has done for us. He is our Saviour who came as the Lamb of Sacrifice.
We reply in the words of the centurion with great humility and contriteness of heart, “Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, say but the word and my soul will be healed.” We are not worthy to receive him. We can never be worthy to receive him. We are so grateful for his mercy and love for us that he wants to come to us, to come under our roof, into our hearts, into our lives.
Today we celebrate Jesus in the feast in honour of Santo Nino. At this Mass and in every Mass we celebrate Jesus as the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.
Archbishop Julian Porteous
Sunday 19 January 2020