Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1/17
Dear Friends,
Today, the Church gives us beautiful readings for the liturgy. Today’s Gospel shows us God’s invitation to enter into an intimate relationship with him. Last Sunday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Lord’s baptism, and in some way our baptism, too. Since baptism is to be immersed into the very life of Christ, we are invited through this sacrament to be immersed into an intimate relationship with the Father, so that we, too, can be his “beloved son and daughter” in whom He is well pleased. While we journey toward our deep relationship with God, we can see that somehow, we are like Andrew and John. We try to follow Jesus, to try get to know him. What we know of him may not be a “firsthand” knowledge. It maybe what others say about him. Jesus once asked his apostles, “who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27). However, as we follow him, He turns to us and shows us that He wants to get to know us, first. He wants to establish a relationship with us by asking us, “What are you looking for?” He knows the deepest desires of our hearts and yet, He wants to hear it from us. “What are you looking for?” To this question, the disciples answered him, “Rabbi, where do you live?” Andrew and John seek for friendship and intimacy with Jesus. They are looking for where Jesus lives. The place where one lives is a place of rest and consolation. It is a place of freedom because you are at home. It is a place where you can find peace and belongingness. Andrew and John know in their heart that in Jesus they can find peace and rest. The two apostles were followers of John the Baptist. They were seekers of truth. And now, they found Jesus, where their tired and heavily burdened hearts can find rest in Him. They found him who is Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Responding to their heart’s yearning, Jesus tells them, “Come and see.” He tells us, “come and see.” He invites us to his intimate life – the life of the Holy Trinity. He invites us to see where He lives, where He eats, where He rests. Jesus lives in the heart and the will of the Father. Into this trinitarian life are we called to be part of when we were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God, through Jesus, wants us to call him Father. He wants us not only to come and to see the beauty of the life with God but also to live where Jesus lives – in the heart of the Father. As we start this new year, may we continue to seek Christ and desire to know him more and more and when we hear him call us, “come and see,” may we respond to him like Samuel in today’s first reading: “Hear I am Lord.”
Nelson Villamor, SCV