All the readings in our liturgy today make the claim that Jesus’ message is for the whole world. It is universal. He fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah in the first reading, which says that God’s servant will bring a message of salvation that must reach to the ends of the earth. St. Paul insists in his letter to the Corinthians that the church that gathers there is not just a local church but is linked to a great worldwide network of churches, which he calls “all the saints everywhereâ€. And then Jesus is heralded in the Gospel by John the Baptist not just as someone who forgives the sins of His own disciples but as the Lamb of God who “takes away the sin of the world.â€
As we approach Christ in communion at every Mass, we are reminded how He saves us through humble self-giving, for He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.