It’s amazing how words can drastically alter your life. In this Sunday's gospel we hear St. John the Baptist proclaim, “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD.”(Cf. John 1:29) That mere phrase was enough for St. Andrew and St. Peter to leave all that they loved, their families, homes, everything they held dear and follow Jesus. Those simple arrangement of words -- would eventually lead them to die for Jesus years later -- are repeated at every single Catholic Mass. Immediately before you receive Holy Communion, the priest holds up the chalice and the consecrated host and intensely says to everyone in the pews: “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD.” After you listen to this homily, you will never hear those words the same again. You will want to weep. You may even want to change how you live. Either way, once you see the thousands of years of history and blood behind those words, you will experience the Holy Mass in a strikingly new way. Nothing will be the same.  

(If you want to delve deeper into the Scripture verses cited in the homily, please refer to Genesis 22, Exodus 12, Leviticus 16 and Isaiah 53)