This is the last of the series of homilies

stimulated by starting to use the new translation.

The final leaflet will be available after Mass.

After we all recite the ‘Lamb of God’,

we are invited to communion with the words:

Behold the Lamb of God,

Behold him who takes away the sins of the world

This runs together two quotations of John the Baptist,

both from the first chapter of John’s gospel.

‘The Lamb’

brings to mind the Passover lamb, (Ex 12:1…)

whose blood saved the people at the Exodus,

and brings to mind the suffering servant in Isaiah,

from the reading we hear on Good Friday:

burdened with the sins of all…

he bore it humbly,

he never opened his mouth,

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house Is(53:7)

On the first occasion (Jn 1:29) the Baptist says

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world;

he continues by giving further witness to Jesus’ identity:

witness to Jesus’ anointing with the Holy Spirit,

witness that Jesus came to baptise with the Holy Spirit,

witness that Jesus is the Chosen One of God.

On the second occasion (Jn 1:36), the Baptist just says,

Behold the Lamb of God

to two of his own disciples,

These two immediately follow Jesus,

and accept his invitation to spend the day with him,

and became Jesus’ first disciples.

The priest goes on:

Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb

Of course we can,

and should,

hear this as a reference to the last supper and Jesus’ command to repeat his action,

so that we are blessed

to be called to share in this Mass.

But there is another layer…

The title

‘Lamb of God’

occurs in just two books of the New Testament:

John’s gospel, and the book of Revelation.

The book of Revelation is full of images,

some pretty impenetrable, others breathtaking:

the triumphant of the Lamb is a central theme.

We are not hear the title ‘Lamb of God’

as just about Jesus’ offering of himself,

Heard from the perspective of the book of Revelation

it is also a title that speaks of vindication, of victory,

of resurrection.

The end of the book of Revelation,

tries to communicate the ultimate outcome of Jesus redemptive work through images of heaven.

There, we find the remarkable image

that the culmination of salvation history is the wedding of the Messiah.

The bride is the community of all the saints,

sometimes called the Church triumphant

(recalled solemnly on Tuesday this week).

Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb

is an allusion to a verse there (Rev 19:9)

Blessed are those invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb

Mass is a foretaste of,

and a calling to,

the wedding supper of the Lamb.

We are not there yet,

but Jesus comes to us most intimately,

to nourish and strengthen us on our way.

All these scriptural connections are to touch our spirit

when we hear the priest’s invitation:

we are to see Jesus for who he is:

the Chosen one of God,

anointed with the Spirit,

sharing his Spirit with us;

we are to feel the pull to follow him,

to spend time with him;

we are to recognise his sacrificial offering for our sins;

we are to rejoice in his victory,

confident that evil cannot prevail;

we are to feel privileged be invited to share in his life here and now;

and we are to feel delighted at the prospect of eternal life

in relationship with Jesus of unimaginable closeness.

How do we respond?

We use words of the centurion in St Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 8:8):

Lord, I am not worthy

that you should enter under my roof,

but only say the word

and my soul shall be healed

The centurion wanted healing for ‘my servant’,

replaced in our prayer by ‘my soul’.

The centurion does not feel worthy to have Jesus

under his roof,

‘in his home’.

We recall, as we use this prayer Jesus’ words,

…my Father will love him and

we shall come to him and make our home in him. (Jn 14:23)

and Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians

that Christ may live in your hearts (Ep 3:17)

The centurion recognises something about Jesus,

and knows he is not worthy to take him home.

We recognise so many things about Jesus

springing from the priest’s invitation

that we must say we are not a worthy home for him.

The centurion’s unworthiness is not connected to his servant being ill.

We aren’t praying for spiritual healing

so that we will then be worthy:

we are recognising that we can never be worthy,

and that we need spiritual healing.

We make this prayer with great confidence:

Jesus is God-with-us.

He comes under our roof,

he makes his home in us,

he wants us for his bride:

not because we are worthy,

but because he loves us.