* 2nd Ordinary (A), January 20, 2008
* Theme: The Spirit of God Leads Us to See Outside Our Boundaries

* Introduction:
* It appears that we just have heard the same scripture readings last week when we celebrated the Baptism of the Jesus.
* (Last week 1st Servant Song of Isaiah & Matthew’s Gospel)
* (This week 2nd Servant Song of Isaiah & John’s Gospel)
* Different Emphasis
* Last week: Baptism as the foundation stone
* This week: The expansion of the mission

* These reading stretch boundaries
* Isaiah – Beyond Israel – “I will make you a light to the nations”
* Paul – Beyond Corinth – “…Called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call on the name of the Lord.”
* John – Beyond what the people were looking for in a Messiah
* Not an earthly ruler bur rather the Son of God;
* The Lamb of God who takes away the SIN of the world
* Where do we need to be stretched?
* In our vision of our lives
* In our vision of the world
* In our understanding of God working in our world

* This week has offered several examples God’s action to tear down the walls that divide us and to stretch our understanding.
* (3 examples)
* The Primary elections are running there course.
* The campaigns so far have been less vitriolic than campaigns in the recent past, and the points of view have been more diverse.
* We as citizens are being challenged to look beyond our prejudices about gender and race and religion to examine the issues of our day:
* What are our attitudes on the war, immigration, universal health care, responsible use of resources, etc.?
* How does our faith inform our attitudes?
* Can we think beyond our own narrow self-interest?
* I think this political season will stretch our boundaries of both politics and faith.

* Cristo Negro de Esquipulas, Guatemala. (Popular devotion among Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Southern Mexicans, January 15):
* Tuesday night there were 1000 people in this church celebrating the feast of the Black Christ of the little town of Esquipulas, Guatemala.
* People were here with roots from all over Latin America.
* How is God acting through this devotion?
* The Black Christ is for Central Americans much of what Our Lady of Guadalupe is for Mexicans.
* In the Black Christ the native Maya saw themselves, who were suffering the persecution and injustices of their oppressors.
* They could identify with the suffering Jesus.
* Even more important – they saw Jesus identifying with them.
* While those of us who are not Central American may have a hard time understanding this kind of piety, it strikes me as being truly incarnational - flesh and blood religion.
Even when we suffer trauma, agony, depression, or injustice – the God we worship is not far away, but right there with us, urging us on to change what we can change, and accept what we cannot change.
* God stretches our hearts and our imagination to see beyond the limits of our reason in order to see the presence of God among us.

* Tomorrow, Monday, is the National Holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Birthday, January 15)
* Dr. King was a Baptist preacher and the son of a Baptist preacher.
* Through prayer and study and contact with his community, he came to see God stretching him to do something about the horrible reality of racism in this country.
* He did not take up arms; rather he took the road of non-violent resistance to confront sin.
* His prayer and contact with people took him beyond the Black community to support the Mexican immigrant farm workers who pick our crops, and are forced to live and work in conditions that are less than human.
* His prayer and contact with people stretched him to eventually oppose the war in Viet Nam, even though this was seen to have perhaps politically hurt his efforts in the civil right arena for African-Americans.
* God stretched Dr. King and he responded.
* God stretches us to see beyond the barriers that divide us.
* How do we respond?

* Scripture calls us, “To live in Light; to move away from Darkness”
* God’s Spirit helps us understand the darkness in our lives
* God’s Spirit leads to us walk in the Light
* God’s Spirit stretches us beyond the barriers that we have put around ourselves.

* If the Spirit of Jesus has touched our lives, like it touched the life of John the Baptist, then through us people will learn about Christ.
* No voice from heaven, no visible parting of the skies, no descent of a dove –
* Just faith-filled believers whose lives of forgiveness, compassion, fidelity under trials, fervent lives of worship and sacrifice show the fingerprint of God’s transforming Spirit in our lives.
* This is how Jesus is revealed to the world.
(cf. Jude Siciliano, O.P.)

* God’s Spirit has no bounds
* Let us open our minds and hearts to God and to others as well – with no bounds.

* Amen

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