Today
is the second Sunday in ordinary time, the first Sunday that we are celebrating
mass together after our observance of the Christmas season. We are going to hear two conversion stories
in a row on these next two Sundays in ordinary time, hearing about how Jesus
calls us to discipleship in different ways.
Today, we hear about how two of the disciples of John the Baptist are
intrigued by Jesus and his identity, how they are called to become followers of
Jesus when they see him walking by. Next
Sunday, we will hear about four men who are called to leave their work as
fishermen in order to follow Jesus.
“Come and see” – this is what Jesus
invites these men to do in today’s Gospel.
Since the days of those first disciples, the followers of Jesus have
been witnessing to their faith and have been inviting others to come join them. We see John the Baptist himself witnessing to
two of his own disciples, calling Jesus “the Lamb of God”. By doing so, John expands their view of who
Jesus really is. In fact, near the end of
the Gospel of John, the author of this Gospel states that this witness and these
signs have been recorded here in the Gospel in order that we may come to
believe that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, and through this
belief, that we might come to have new life in him. “Come and see” is the invitation we also
receive. Like this invitation that Jesus
extends, we as believers are called to witness and invite others to the faith,
too. This act of witnessing and inviting is exemplified by Andrew’s actions in
today’s Gospel. He hears the witness of
John the Baptist, he then goes with Jesus to where he is staying, and he stays
with Jesus that day. Andrew searches out
his brother, Simon Peter, telling him with great excitement – “We have found
the Messiah!” Andrew brings his brother
to Jesus. He is so excited about sharing
his new found faith with others.
As we hear about the conversion stories
of these first disciples, perhaps we are thinking, “Well, today’s Gospel story
really doesn’t pertain to me. I’m
already a follower of Jesus. It’s not like I don’t know him or don’t already
practice my faith in my own way. But
perhaps we are called to look at our faith today and see how we can strengthen
it, how we can live it out more fully, how our faith can serve as a witness to
others. All of us in the modern world today need to look at the different ways
in which we are called to conversion. Perhaps we are the believer who is
entrenched in a kind of religious legalism, in which we look at our faith as a
check list of rules and commandments, expecting ourselves and all Christians to
follow all of these rules to the letter of the law, in a very legalistic, rigid
way. Or, to the other extreme, perhaps
we think that since we believe in God, since we’re baptized and a part of his
Church, that we can sort of do whatever we want to do and still be saved. Or perhaps we just go through the motions of
our faith without taking any risks or chances, without really trying to discern
God’s specific will for us in our lives, without going out on a limb and really
allowing our faith to have a true impact in our own life and in the lives of
others. Maybe one of these descriptions
is the type of conversion we need today.
If you look at modern America, most
people in our society think of themselves as rather spiritual in their approach
to life. Search the books that are found
in our bookstores and libraries today; there are literally hundreds of books
written about spirituality and self-help, about 12-step programs and improving
our lives. Yet, there are so many people
out there who are afraid to make a spiritual commitment, who see religion as
irrelevant to our lives. Even as a
priest, I have people tell me that they want to practice Christianity in
isolation, that they don’t need the Church, that they can do it on their own. But, from the very beginning, when Jesus
called those men to be his disciples, he shows us how our faith is to be lived
in community, how it is not just “me and God,” but all of us as Christ’s
disciples on our journey of redemption and salvation together. And as the Church, we are the body of Christ
here on earth. So, perhaps what we as a
society in America need is not individual conversions to Jesus, but rather
conversion to the Church, to the communion of Christ, to a deeper understanding
of the Church and our faith and in our participation in the Body of
Christ.
You know, pretty regularly now, we have
been going out to the Green House to have mass each Friday afternoon, and we
have been going out to the Blake assisted living home in Ridgeland every couple
of months to have mass out there as well.
We go beyond the boundaries of our physical church buildings here in
Yazoo City to celebrate mass with our brothers and sisters who cannot come to
mass here with us on Sunday mornings, to show our love and care for them, to
show that we are all in this together. And
I go to out to celebrate mass or to have Bible studies with the prisoners in
our area on a regular basis as well, because many of them are searching for God
and we in the Catholic Church are one of the few places that are reaching out
to them. To me, these are examples of
what it means to live out the Body of Christ, to witness our faith with others.
So, as we enter ordinary time once
again in the liturgical year, marking an end to the Christmas season, as we
hear about those first disciples who chose to follow Jesus, may we look at our
own lives and at the journey of faith we are all on. Jesus asked these men to come and see for themselves. What do we need to look for, what type of
conversion do we need, and how do we need to witness to others as we continue
on our own journey of faith?
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