Reflection for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2026

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

It is too little, the Lord says, for you to be my servant.

Saint Catherine of Siena said that if we become who we were created to be, we would set the world on fire. She “implored us to place ourselves before God, asking for our hearts to align with his” (Marcum, 2023, in National Catholic Register). The “we” in Saint Catherine’s exhortation is “us”–all of us!

A very happy outcome of Vatican II is the teaching of the universal call to holiness. Not just priests and religious, but every baptized Christian is called to be a Christ-like witness to the truth of Jesus’ redemptive life, death, and resurrection.

Again this week it is Isaiah who initiates this theme that extends through all the readings of the Mass. It is the raising up of God’s people spiritually to a higher level of sanctity or higher holiness by the power and call of God, in order to be God’s messengers wherever we are.

In the reading from Isaiah, the Lord says to his servant that it is too little for him to lift up and restore Jacob and Israel. God will spread the servant’s influence far and wide: “I will make you a light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” This prophecy foretells the vast world-wide reach of Jesus’ work and applies to each of us who have been baptized into the saving mission of the Church, wherever we happen to be.

This is good news for us because it means we are united to Jesus in our life and work. We are empowered by the “filial grace” of Jesus to be His hands, feet, and voice to those who otherwise might not encounter His saving love. As the main teaching document of Vatican II Lumen Gentium declares “… the laity are called in a special way to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the earth (197).” Where in your life are these places?

If a person asks, “How can I do this?” a witty response is “God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” But when we are less sure of our abilities, we can let Saint Paul assure us of God’s assistance, as he has done for his prophets in the past: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). Is all your confidence in Him?

Baptism is what God has done for us. Now we, by prayer and word, can trustingly share these blessings of faith and grace with others. Union with God’s holy will empowers us to do good.

Only God knows the plans He has for our well-being, but He surely has them (Jeremiah 29:11-13). Let us let Him make us holy…AND…Oremus pro invicem…Let us pray for one another!

I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.