SPEAKER_00: Most of us assume that the most dangerous moments in life are the obvious ones.
SPEAKER_00: An accident, crashes, storms, sudden tragedies.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the most dangerous situations are the ones that don't look dangerous at all.
SPEAKER_00: There are places in the world where their ground looks firm, solid, trustworthy, and it isn't.
SPEAKER_00: Engineers will tell you this long before the collapse, the surface often looks firm.
SPEAKER_00: No cracks, no warning signs, just a slow hallowing underneath.
SPEAKER_00: Spirituality, that's how people get lost.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritually, that's how people get lost.
SPEAKER_00: Very few people wake up one morning and decide to ruin their lives.
SPEAKER_00: No one plans to drift away from God.
SPEAKER_00: No one intends to suffocate spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: Usually happens quietly.
SPEAKER_00: While things look fine.
SPEAKER_00: You're functioning, you're productive, you're getting by.
SPEAKER_00: But underneath something has shifted.
SPEAKER_00: Faith has thinned, prayer has grown sporadic, or if at all, sin has become familiar, God has become optional, or maybe one thing among many things.
SPEAKER_00: And then one day without drama, the ground gives way.
SPEAKER_00: That's what spiritual quicksand looks like.
SPEAKER_00: Not rebellion, but exhaustion.
SPEAKER_00: Not defiance, but self-reliance.
SPEAKER_00: Not hatred for God, but trying to live without Him.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the cruel paradox.
SPEAKER_00: The harder you struggle on your own, the deeper you sink.
SPEAKER_00: It's not psychology, that's theology.
SPEAKER_00: Because a human heart was never designed to self-save itself.
SPEAKER_00: This is where today's gospel becomes urgent.
SPEAKER_00: John the Baptist doesn't offer encouragement, he doesn't give us advice, he doesn't say, try harder, do better.
SPEAKER_00: What does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He points, behold the Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a poetic phrase, it's a rescue signal.
SPEAKER_00: John is saying, stop trying to hold yourself up.
SPEAKER_00: Stop trusting what cannot hold your weight.
SPEAKER_00: Stop standing where the ground is already collapsing.
SPEAKER_00: Because salvation does not come from within your own strength, it comes from someone who stands where you cannot.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the scandal of Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Every other worldview tells you dig deeper, be stronger, save yourself.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel says, let yourself be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not shout instructions from a distance.
SPEAKER_00: He steps into an unstable ground with you.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't avoid the collapse, he absorbs it.
SPEAKER_00: That's why John calls him the Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: The Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_00: A lamb doesn't overpower, it doesn't dominate, a lamb bears weight.
SPEAKER_00: The Lamb of God carries what you what would crush you.
SPEAKER_00: And this is where many people hesitate.
SPEAKER_00: Because being rescued requires surrender.
SPEAKER_00: It requires admitting I cannot stand here anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot be in the same same old.
SPEAKER_00: It requires letting go of the illusion of control.
SPEAKER_00: It requires deep trust.
SPEAKER_00: And trust terrifies when you're already sinking.
SPEAKER_00: But listen carefully.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not save you by pulling you out of your life.
SPEAKER_00: He saves you by giving you solid ground within it.
SPEAKER_00: That ground has a name.
SPEAKER_00: It's called grace.
SPEAKER_00: Grace that forgives when you're ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: Grace that steadies you when anxiety tightens your chest.
SPEAKER_00: Grace that restores you when sin has hollowed you out.
SPEAKER_00: Grace that meets you not when you've climbed out, but when you've stopped pretending you can.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a ritual pause.
SPEAKER_00: It's not background noise.
SPEAKER_00: This is a moment of decision.
SPEAKER_00: It's the church asking you without pressure, without spectacle, where are you standing right now?
SPEAKER_00: On your own strengths, on your own old habits, your buried resentments, on distractions that numb you but never save you?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you ready to place your weight somewhere else?
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is this everyone sinks at some point.
SPEAKER_00: Strong people, professional, faithful people, young people, older people, priests, parents, students, leaders.
SPEAKER_00: The difference is not who sinks, the difference is who reaches out.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the hope of today's gospel.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to climb out, you don't have to prove anything, you don't have to be impressive.
SPEAKER_00: You only have to let go and reach out for the one who's on solid ground.
SPEAKER_00: So as you come forward today, hear the words again, not as poetry, not as a habit, but as an invitation.
SPEAKER_00: Behold the Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look to him.
SPEAKER_00: The one who stands where you cannot, the one who bears what you carry, the one who will not let the ground collapse beneath you.
SPEAKER_00: And so, my brothers and sisters, on this second Sunday of ordinary time, as we begin this new season, happy are those who stop fighting.
SPEAKER_00: Happy are those, the ones who understand where they are and that they are in need of rescue.
SPEAKER_00: Stop fighting the ground that cannot hold you.
SPEAKER_00: And finally, for once, trust the hand that can reach out and grab you back on to solid ground.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.