Gospel Reflection for the 2nd. Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 14th. – Come and See…

As Jesus walks by minding his own business, John points at him and says to those who are with him, ‘Look there is the Lamb of God.’ They drop everything they were doing, leave John and go after Jesus. Before they can speak or say anything, Jesus turns, looks at them and asks a very direct and personal question; ‘What are you looking for?’

What a question! Jesus wastes no time in getting to the heart of the matter. They respond with a question of their own, ‘Master, where do you live? This question is not about directions or an address. They really want to know who Jesus is and where he comes from. In response, Jesus does not give them directions or an address. He offers them an invitation, ‘Come and see.’ This is a very open and a very challenging invitation. It was then and still is today.

Jesus does not force them to follow him. He does not insist that they go with him. He simply says to them that if they want to know who he is, then they are welcome to go with him and spend some time with him. The best way to get to know a person is to spend time with them. And so, we are told that they went with him, saw where he lived and stayed with him the rest of the day. We can only guess that they ate with Jesus, they spoke to him and that they listened to him. After their time with Jesus, we are told that one of them, Andrew went and told his brother Peter about Jesus and actually brings him to meet Jesus. Andrew has become a missionary disciple. He shares with Peter what he himself experienced from being with Jesus

Are we so different from these people in the gospel? Every day Jesus offers us the same open invitation, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus wants to be with us so we too can spend some time with him. The choice whether or not we accept this invitation and follow Jesus is ours to make. He will not force us or make us follow him. It has to be our choice. If we do follow Jesus, then we are going to be changed, just as Andrew was. You can’t experience Jesus and stay the same. Andrew didn’t keep to himself the experience of being with Jesus and neither can we. We are called by Jesus to share our good news about him with others. That’s what being a disciple means. Today each of us is being called by Jesus to become missionary disciples.

The best way we can talk to Jesus and listen to him is through prayer. We can read the gospels, pray the rosary, go to mass or we can simply light a candle in our kitchen and sit in silence. Through our prayer, we hear the invitation of Jesus. When he says, ‘Come and see,’ what is your response?

• Michael Moore OMI