Gospel – John 1:35-42
John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” — which translated means Teacher — “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” — which is translated Christ —. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” — which is translated Peter.
Homily
Sometime ago I met a man who described his first meeting with the woman who was to become his wife. He ended the description of this episode saying “and the rest is history.” We begin this Sunday the period in the Church’s year that we call Ordinary time. This is not a period when we celebrate specific events in the History of Salvation. It is the time when we recall the public ministry of Jesus, the things that he did and said, the things we are called to imitate in our daily lives. In Ordinary Time we celebrate what would have been the evangelizing ministry of Jesus.
It is a principle of Christian living that our lives affect the lives of others and are a help or a hindrance as we journey towards the full establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the Gospel given to us for our meditation this weekend, we are brought face to face with this principle.
The Gospel presents us with the beginning of the public ministry and the call of the first disciples according to St. John. The disciples are looking for something or someone. We know that what they were looking for was the Messiah, and everything that the messiah was supposed to bring, freedom, liberation etc. The process through which others are helped to encounter the One who brings freedom and liberation is the process of evangelization and the Gospel passage given to us for our meditation this weekend presents us with two examples of evangelization. When John proclaims; “Behold, the Lamb of God”, his disciples heard him and began to follow Jesus. (It is important to note that John is not interested in keeping his disciples to himself. What is important is that they encounter Jesus.) Jesus sees them and asks them, “What are you looking for?” They in turn ask Jesus where he is staying, probably because they wanted to hear more about this man whom John had called “the lamb of God”. Jesus invites them; “Come and See”. They go with him and whatever they saw so enthralled them that they go and bring others to share with them the experience of Jesus. John’s proclamation, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” evokes in the disciples a spirit of curiosity. They want to know more about this person and so follow Jesus in the hope of finding out more about him. Jesus sees them and invites them to a deeper encounter. In replying to the question of the disciples about his place of abode Jesus tells the disciples; “Come and See”. And as the man who told me the story of his first encounter with his wife, we can say of the disciples; the rest is history. They went, they saw, they stayed but more importantly they committed themselves to the person of Jesus Christ. “We have found the Messiah” is the expression of this allegiance.That experience changed their lives.
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Any true evangelization leads the person evangelized to an encounter with the Lord Jesus, an encounter which culminates in allegiance and in a commitment to bring others to a similar encounter and so we find Andrew, one of those evangelized by John, going to find his brother Peter and bringing him to encounter Jesus. This encounter is in turn an encounter of deep knowing; We are told, “Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” — which is translated Peter.”
In these two examples of evangelization we find the fundamental Christian task, of bringing others to a personal encounter with the Lord so that their lives are changed for the better. Lives are not changed positively because of force or fear. Jesus neither forced nor instilled fear in the first disciples. Lives are changed for the better because of an experience or experiences which so touch them that persons are moved to dedicate themselves to something better or more noble. That is why religious congregations and charismatic groups have followers. This assertion echoes the thought of Pope Francis who remind us that persons become Christian, not because of doctrine but because of attraction. Many years ago, I received an adult into the Church. During the ceremony I asked this person the reason for her desire to enter the Church. Her response was that the example of a Catholic couple had convinced her that there had to be something different in the Catholic Church. In a very true sense this person had experienced the Catholic couple and was so impressed that she wanted to be like them. Her experience of that couple changed her life.
This Gospel passage calls us then to remember and thank God for those who have made the encounter with Christ possible in our lives. That encounter would have encouraged us in some way to be better people, to be people dedicated to some cause which betters humankind. It also calls us to look at our own life and ask ourselves whether our lifestyle has led others to an encounter with Christ. This is what the saints did and this is what all of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ must do. If at the end of life we can say that we have led another to an encounter with Christ Jesus, our life would have been well spent.
Prayer
All powerful and ever loving God, we thank you for the message of the Gospel. You invited the first disciples very gently to come and see. They saw and were so enthralled that they dedicated their lives to making YOU known and loved. Help us also to experience YOU in such a way that our lives also will be changed, so that we too maybe so captivated by YOU that we will help others especially our children to know and to love YOU. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and through Jesus your son who invited the disciples to come and see.
Amen
