Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time By Father Ivan Olmo October 11, 2026
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!” Behold is an interesting word used often in scripture. We use it in sacred liturgy and in the sacrifice of the Mass. It is a word that requires an immediate response. It is meant to cause us to pause, stop quickly and pay close, personal attention to what God is about to say. To draw our immediate attention to the messenger and the divine revelation that is about to be shared. We hear the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary to announce the Good News and to share God’s divine plan for saving us. The Angel Gabriel said to Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Pay attention to what is being said and what is being shared because it is meant for you. The Angel said behold, because God is doing something new, something unheard of, something quite amazing that is worth knowing and listening to. God the Father is sending his only begotten Son to enter into our fallen humanity not for his sake but for ours to save us and all humanity that we may all enter into God’s divinity and rise with him into eternal glory. Now, that’s worth listening to so listen with all your energy and heart, focusing all your attention on God. In other words, stop, look, listen, and behold God is speaking to you. We also hear John the Baptist call and invite us to do the same at every Mass. To behold God and his intention to save us. In this sacred moment, we are asked to stop what we are doing, to discontinue the internal conversations in our heads as well as the external conversations taking place with those around us – to stop the train of mindless thought and simply to “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” Not once but twice we are told to behold the miracle of Christ truly present in the Eucharist and to give Jesus our undivided attention, our unwavering heart, our undistracted mind and simply to behold the gift, the sacrament, our salvation. This news is definitely worth listening to by offering an attentive ear and a listening heart. Some say it is difficult to pay attention at Mass when the truth is you behold someone or something else that could never save you or offer you eternal life so behold Him who came to save us.
