Homily for the
2d Sunday of Ordinary Time[1]
Jan. 14, 2024
John 1: 35-42
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
“They
went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day” (John
1: 39).
Jesus’ public ministry begins with his introduction to the public by John the Baptist. After an extensive ministry of his own, laying the groundwork for the Messiah’s appearance, John finally sees him and points him out to some of his own disciples. A wise man, a man in love with God, John knows who he is, as we heard emphasized on 2 of the Sundays of Advent. His mission is to prepare people to receive God’s Anointed One, the one who will wash them with the Holy Spirit. So John doesn’t hesitate to direct his followers to where they need to go.
Without
grasping what “Lamb of God” means (1:36), for the moment seeing Jesus only as a
“teacher” (1:38), Andrew and the other disciple—who, perhaps, was John the son
of Zebedee—follow Jesus and accept his invitation to go with him (1:39). Evidently they’re captivated; they stay with
him the rest of the afternoon (1:39), and then they begin to recruit more
disciples for Jesus (1:40), whom they now see as more than a teacher: “We’ve found the Messiah” (1:41).
Later,
when Jesus begins to teach his disciples and crowds of others about the gift of
his Body and Blood that must be consumed for eternal life (John 6), many of
them will find this teaching “hard” and abandon him (6:60,66). But Simon Peter will speak for others: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We’ve come to believe and are convinced that
you’re the Holy One of God” (6:68-69).
And they remain with him.
Andrew
and the unnamed disciple stayed with Jesus and led others to him. Simon Peter, the rest of the 12, and others
remained with him.
Why
do we stay with Jesus? Surveys tell us
that only 25% of people in the U.S. who call themselves Catholics continue to
come to church. In Canada, most of
Western Europe, and Australia, the percentage is even less. The other 75% have been turned off by
scandals, are scared off by Covid, have what they think are more urgent matters
to attend to on Sunday, or just can’t be bothered.
What keeps us coming to church, coming to Jesus? Once upon a time, people came to church because that’s what you did on Sunday. Or they came because of social pressure (from parents or neighbors). Or they were entranced by the sacred music or what we used to call “smells and bells”—incense and ritual. Or they thought it was a sin to skip Mass (it is) even if to them it was otherwise meaningless. If that’s what drew people once upon a time, it doesn’t seem sufficient any longer.
So
why do we stay with Jesus? Some of us
hunger for the truth of who we are, where we’re going, why God created us. We come to listen to God’s Word in the
Scriptures and hear a homily that (I hope) applies the Scriptures to our lives. Some of us, aware of our sinfulness, come to
be reassured that God loves us, welcomes us, and forgives us. Some of us find companionship in our parish
community, a kind of comfort in the company and the example of other
believers. Some of us desire a closer
relationship with Jesus, whom we find present in the Eucharist, who nourishes
our souls. Some of us so appreciate
God’s goodness and beauty that we want to come and thank him, praise him, and
give him glory. Some of us realize how
weak we are in the face of life’s difficulties and temptations and come to
plead for divine assistance, for strength to plod on with life. In any of that, we’ve found the Messiah,
Christ, God’s Anointed One.
Whatever
it is the induces us to stay with Jesus, thank God! May he always preserve us in his grace and,
as Simon Peter said, lead us to eternal life.
May Jesus even help us, like Andrew, lead others to him, for we’ve found
the Messiah—or, better, the Messiah has found us.
[1]
For reasons that only a bureaucrat could discern, today is designated the “2d
Sunday of Ordinary Time” even tho there’s never a 1st Sunday.
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