1
Samuel 3:3b-10, 19
1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
John 1:35-42
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“What are you looking for?”
These are the first words
Jesus speaks at the beginning of John’s Gospel. They are directed to not only
these two disciples of John the Baptist, but to all of us.
As our new Auxiliary Bishop
Daniel Meuggenborg shared in his book Come
Follow Me, “First words are important words.”
Jesus asks, “What
are you looking for?” This question is posed to the eventual Apostle
Andrew and an unnamed person some scholars believe is the beloved disciple John
(author of this Gospel).
“What
are you looking for?”
Why do we come to Mass? Are we here because it’s an obligation? Or
are we here to grow deeper in our relationship with Christ and better hear his
voice urging us to serve others and Him.
“What are you looking for?”
Are we open to deepening our
understanding of what Christ is teaching us or do we have it all figured out?
“What are you looking for?”
Jesus speaks these
provocative words for a reason. He wants us to reflect on why faith is
important in our lives and to learn how to better share our witness with the
world.
Jesus then invites the
disciples, and us, to, “Come, and … see.”
After spending a short time
with the one John the Baptist called “the Lamb of God,” Andrew is so
excited about what he’s found he can’t wait to share the good news with his
brother Simon Peter and bring him to Jesus.
Bishop Mueggenborg says, “The
story of the first disciples is not complete until we are told they go out and
introduce others to Jesus… The Gospel of John is trying to tell us that
discipleship necessarily involves missionary outreach to others inviting them
to share in the relationship we have with the Lord.”
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| The Calling of Andrew and Peter - Caravaggio |
This is an invitation to an
even greater journey. When we follow Jesus, we learn to follow him everywhere.
We follow him to hospital rooms and to prisons, to the homeless on the streets
and to the poor in faraway lands. We follow Jesus to where ever he calls us to
follow him, and “Come … and see.”
And this isn’t always a
comfortable place. But he always calls us to deepen our understanding and
awareness of Him as we serve our neighbors, no matter who they are.
This is not a place of opinions
about what we think about people and how they live their lives, but a place
where love and mercy can blossom, a place where others can find Christ.
We were blessed to see these
transformations in understanding and awareness in our young people and older
parishioners who spent time in the poorest parts of Guatemala in the summer of
2015.
We built houses, built stoves, built
roads and left behind thousands of dollars donated by each and every one of you
to contract local carpenters and artisans to finish the work started by our
parishioners.
In addition, we learned from the
women of the village how to do laundry the old fashioned way with water and
wash board. We learned how to carry large, heavy bundles of firewood sticks
using our foreheads and our backs. We even were invited to play our new friends
in a fun game of soccer and held our own thanks to the athletic talents of current
medical student and parishioner Elizabeth Reed who served as our goalie. In
each of these experiences, we built relationships with the people of the
community. And most importantly we
walked in their shoes.
If you care to hear about these
transformational experiences, I suggest you talk to Liz or parishioners Brian
Thomas and his granddaughter Gabriel. We all experienced something amazing and
it deepened our relationship with Christ as we entered into relationship with
those living on the margins. These missionaries listened to His words to, “Come,
and … see.” We will listen to His words again this summer as our parish
heads to Haiti.
We are blessed to see these
transformations in understanding and awareness in the many parishioners who
join us each week on the streets of Snohomish County as we build relationships,
provide the ministry of presence, and serve the medical, mental health and
spiritual needs of our sisters and brothers experiencing homelessness.
These doctors, nurses, mental health
counselors, social workers, and spiritual care servants are following Jesus’
call, and invitation to “Come, and … see.”
Our team has been described by Everett city
officials as an “integral part” of the effort to respond to the homelessness
crisis. We were even shown as a model of giving responsibly in a recent video
unveiled by the City’s Safe Streets initiative just before the Christmas
holiday.
Led by Jesus each week, our team is
building medical and mental health clinics in places where wounded souls gather,
and spiritually ministering to our neighbors on the streets in desperate need
of a relationship with Jesus.
If you want to hear more about how Jesus is
made manifest in our efforts, please to talk with (Judy and Dr. Tim McNamara. Or
Jennifer Olszewski. Or Dr. Jim Bommarito. Or Michael Koontz. Or Sue and David
Stoeckel. Or Laurel Cheap. Or Rich Menzel. Or Francis del Rosario.)
When we follow the call of Jesus to “Come,
and … see,” we deepen our relationship with Christ, forge an even
deeper understanding of our neighbor, and do our part to bring Jesus’ healing
to the world.
This outreach is being done in ministries all
throughout our parish community, from our wonderful corps of disciples who
bring Jesus to hospitals, nursing homes and hospices, to the committed group of
volunteers who run St. Vincent de Paul and our two food banks, to those working
with pregnant women and young mothers through Prepares.
God called each and every one of these
trustworthy disciples to serve in the ministry of Jesus, just as God called
Samuel to be a trustworthy disciple of the Lord.
Sometimes we too may be like Samuel, confused
when God comes calling us by name.
Let us pray we will all learn to better hear
God’s voice and respond to God’s call with “Here I am Lord"… "your servant is listening.”
In
Evangelii Gaudium, or Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis encouraged us all to do
our part, saying, “Every Christian is a
missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in
Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries,’ but
rather that we are always ‘missionary
disciples.’ If we are not convinced, let us look at those first
disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to
proclaim Him joyfully: ‘We have found the Messiah!’ (John 1:41).”
So, I ask you again. “What
are you looking for?”
Perhaps it’s time to follow Jesus’ call to “Come,
and … see,” and join in as we bring others to Christ.