2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel Reading: John 1: 35-42

35 As John stood with two of his disciples,

36 Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God.'

37 Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus.

38 Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, 'What do you want?' They answered, 'Rabbi/ - which means Teacher - 'Where do you live?'

39 'Come and see' he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.

40 One of these two who be­came followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.

4l Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' - which means the Christ -

42 and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas' - mean­ ing Rock.

Meditation

On this Sunday, every year, there is an extract from St John's gospel, taken from the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, which serves as a preliminary to the continuous reading which will begin on the following Sunday.

In this passage we have St John's account of the calling of the first disciples. It differs markedly from the account given in the synoptic gospels, and has its own richness and depth.

The passage is in three sections:

•  Verses 35-36: The testimony of John the Baptist: admire the marvellous humility of the precursor, model for all those in­ volved in giving guidance to others. You might also like to spend some time reflecting on the famous title of Jesus, Lamb of God.

•  Verses 38-39: The encounter between the disciples and Jesus is simple and down-to-earth, but also very deep. Let it remind you of meetings that have affected you or people you know.

Prayer 

Lord, we thank you for people who guided us but did not try to possess us:

parents, teachers, spiritual guides, friends.

For a time we stood with them.

Very simply, like John the Baptist,

they said to us, 'Look, there is the one you should follow'

and hearing this we followed that person.

Lord, there are many people who want to do great things for you,

to excel in mighty deeds that will win them glory.

But from time to time someone comes into our lives and just by looking at them we can say,

'Look, there is a lamb of God,'

someone who is willing to do the humble things, to be patient and to endure.

That is Jesus passing by.

'It is time to realise that neither socialism nor good-neighbourism nor respect can be produced by bayonets, tanks or blood.'
Edward Shevardnadze

Lord, we pray for leaders.

So often they think they can win our allegiance with threats or great promises and propaganda.

Sometimes even church leaders think like that.

Teach them that to win people's trust is a deep process.

They cannot force it on us.

We must start following them ourselves and only then should they ask 'What do you want?'

They will always find that what we want to know is how they are in the truth and honesty of their homes.

They must come straight with us, invite us to come and see, and then be willing to have us stay with them.

Only after that will we be able to say,

'Yes, we have found our Leader.'

'Often I go off in dreams about living and being with the poor; what the poor need, however, is not my dreams but my concrete presence.'
Jean Vanier

Lord, we are like Jesus only when we turn to those following us

and invite them to come and see where we live and then let them stay with us the rest of the day.

Lord, forgive us for allowing all transactions to become occasions for making money,

even such deeply human encounters as healing a sick person,

counselling those in distress, or protecting the rights of the oppressed.

These meetings should be like what happens between Jesus and his first disciples -

human beings going to visit a leader and spending a day with him

and then saying to their friends,

'We have found someone who can save us.'

Lord, like many other societies around the world,

we have a tendency to categorise people.

We characterise whole groups as lazy, or incompetent, or dishonest

because they belong to a particular ethnic group;

or because they attend a certain kind of school;

or because they live in a particular part of the city.

Send us people like Jesus who will look deeply at others,

dispelling all prejudices, and will say to them: 'Society has called you by one name; from now on you shall be known as free and creative people.'