2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will.
As we begin Ordinary time in the Church year, we pause to reflect on what we have just celebrated—the wonder of God’s will to be God with us, God one of us. We marvel at the great events and those whose YES brought that will to reality. We are filled with gratitude for Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist.
We can stand in awe of these events and simply be amazed, or we can realize that the salvation of our world is an ongoing YES to the Father’s dream for us. For Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist, their YES was lived out in their daily lives, in the ordinary events they encountered each day.
Our yes to the Father’s will is the same. I come to do your will takes place in our ordinary daily lives. Not in the midst of choirs of angels singing Glory to God, but in the midst of the messiness we find each day—both the joy and the sorrow, the success and the failure. Our own families, our workplaces, our communities provide the opportunities to live out our yes to bring compassion, forgiveness, and love to others.
At each Eucharist, we encounter the extraordinary presence of Christ in the bread and wine, in the Word proclaimed, and in the community gathered. And we pray Amen—our yes! But our yes must extend into our ordinary, everyday lives. Into the situations that cry out for a presence to bring justice, peace, and relief of suffering. It is here that our YES to the will of God continues his saving power.
By living our YES, we become a light to the nations that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
How will I live my yes today?
Prayer:
Loving God, thank you for entrusting us with your dream of unity and peace. Lord Jesus, help us to live out this dream in our daily encounters with one another. Holy Spirit, fill us with courage and wisdom that we be empowered to know when and where to bring your love to others. Trusting in your grace, we pray, Amen!
