2nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time B – Jan. 14, 2024
1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6: 13c-15a, 17-20; John 1:
35-42
Theme: Jesus’s Self
Revelation to the First Disciples
The feast of the Baptism of our Lord that we
celebrated last Monday, January 8th, marked the end of the Christmas
season and the beginning of the liturgical season called “Ordinary Time”. This
Sunday is the second week in Ordinary Time. Why is this period called “Ordinary
Time”? The term “Ordinary” does not mean that this time is unimportant. From
Latin ordinalis, “Ordinary” means “numbered”. So, “Ordinary Time” is
thirty-four weeks that stands outside of the all-important seasons of Christmas
with its preparatory time called Advent and Easter with its preparatory time
called Lent. These thirty-four weeks of Ordinary Time mark the movement of time
and unfold the story of our salvation. The liturgical color used in Ordinary
Time is green, meaning that this is a time of spiritual growth.
The liturgy of
this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time is connected to those of the Epiphany and
Baptism of our Lord in the Christmas Season as all three liturgies aim to
reveal the divine nature of Jesus. As I mentioned in my homily of the Epiphany
of the Lord last Sunday, the early Church identified three specific events that
reveal Jesus’ divine nature, and the modern Lectionary and liturgical calendar
maintain the theme together. They are (1) the visit of the Magi (Epiphany), (2)
the Baptism of the Lord, and (3) the Sunday after the Baptism of the Lord, the
second Sunday in Ordinary Time which is today. This Sunday always has either a
Gospel passage of John the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus (John 1: 29-42) or the
Wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-11). The Liturgical Year A reads the first part of the
passage of John, the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus (John 1: 29-34) and the
Liturgical Year B takes the second part of this section (John 1: 35-42). The
Liturgical Year C uses the passage of the wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-11). All of
these three events reveal Jesus’ glory and divine identity before his public
ministry.
The
scripture readings of this Sunday tell us about the call-vocation of some
individuals: Samuel in the first reading and the first two disciples and Simon
Peter in the Gospel. The focus is on the people who help these individuals in
their callings and on the growth of their vocation. Eli helped Samuel to become
familiar with the voice of God. John the Baptist pointed two of his disciples to
Jesus who is the Lamb of God. So, he helped these two disciples to become
Jesus’ disciples. In his turn, Andrew,
one of these two disciples, brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. He helped
Simon Peter to become Jesus’ follower. Today, God continues to call each one of
us either to the religious life, priesthood, or marriage. Besides these types
of life, all of us baptized Christians share the same calling of the baptismal
priesthood. In baptism, Jesus calls us to become his disciples, serving Jesus
in different ministries (for instance as nurses/doctors, schoolteachers, choir,
lector, Eucharist ministers, altar servers, etc.) We are also called to help other
people respond to their vocations by becoming Jesus’ followers as we are, and
together, we are called to grow up in our callings every day as we encounter Jesus
in the sacraments and decide to stay with him.
The
two disciples of our Gospel learn from John the Baptist that Jesus is the Lamb
of God. Immediately, they leave their rabbi
John and follow him. But so far, they do not know why they follow Jesus. We
too come to Church because our parents, priests, teachers, and catechists taught
us about Jesus. This is a good start. Now, Jesus asks us a question as he did
to these two disciples: “What are you looking for?” We need to think before we answer.
We come to Mass and live our Christian life, but what are we looking for
exactly? In other words, why are we Christians? Why do we follow Jesus? This
question is the foundational stamp of John’s Gospel that is posed to all
seekers of Jesus. It determines our identity as followers of Jesus.
These
two disciples answered Jesus’ question with another question. It sounds like
before they determine their motivation for following Jesus, they want to know
if their new master Jesus has a physical home address and enough resources to
take care of the disciples (students). In other words, they want to know who
Jesus really is: his lifestyle and the type of his mission. So, they know about
Jesus so far with John Baptist's help and now they want to know Jesus
personally. Pay attention to the difference between knowing about Jesus and
knowing Jesus. Have we asked this personal question to know who Jesus really is
before we accepted to become Christians or Jesus’ followers? Do we personally know
Jesus whom we follow? As Christians, you
and I must learn from these two disciples. Our call-vocation must grow from
knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus.
Jesus
understood the preoccupation of these disciples. He then invites them to follow
him and see with their own eyes. “Come and see.” (V. 39). The narrator tells us
that these two disciples “went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed
with him that day.” (V. 39). When we
attend Mass, we respond to that invitation. The Mass helps us to know who Jesus
really is. We hear him in the scripture readings, we see him and touch him with
our hands in the Eucharist, and we become one with him in the sacrament of the
Holy Communion. This wonderful experience with our Lord is the reason for us to
stay with him and strengthen our one-on-one relationship with him. So, what we look for by being Christians is to
follow Jesus and stay with him, which means to be in a personal relationship
with him.
This
personal relationship with Jesus entails conversion. When we follow Jesus and
stay with him, we need to avoid sin. In our second reading, Saint Paul reminds
us that our bodies are members of Christ. So, no parts of our bodies can be
used sinfully because we come to Jesus, stay with him, and become “one spirit
with him” (1 Corinthians 6: 17).
This
personal relationship with Jesus also entails a mission. We are called to share
our Christian experience with others, inviting and helping them to also come to
Jesus and have the same experience with him. This is what Andrew, one of the
two disciples of our Gospel, did to his brother Simon Peter, and Eli did with
Samuel in our first reading. The first person whom Andrew evangelized was his “blood”
brother Simon Peter. According to the context of this Gospel story, Peter did
not know who Jesus was. Andrew brought him to Jesus and Peter ended up becoming
Jesus’ disciple, even the head of Jesus’ Church. This part of the Gospel
teaches us that we are called to evangelize first the members of our families. The
experience that we have with Jesus in the Eucharistic celebration, let us share
it with our brothers and sisters, inviting and helping them to come to Church
and have the same experience with Jesus.
As
Andrew did to Simon Peter, Eli did the same thing to the young Samuel in our
first reading. At night, God called Samuel three times while he was sleeping. Each
time Samuel went to his spiritual master Eli thinking that it was he who was
calling him. For the first two times, Eli sent him back to sleep, telling him
that he did not call him. For the third time, Eli understood that it was God
who was calling the young Samuel. He helped him to know how to answer God’s
call. He told him, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” (1 Samuel 3: 9). Samuel did
exactly as he was told. When the Lord called him again for the fourth time,
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (v. 10). God continues
to call people today. You and I are the “Eli” of our time to help them discern and
know how to answer God’s call.
The
liturgy of this Mass teaches us that God continues to reveal himself until
today. We are called to follow him and know why we follow him. To follow Jesus is
conversion and mission. May this Mass enable each one of us here to be the true
disciples of Jesus.
As we talk about calling other people to also follow
Jesus as we do, I would like to tell you that tomorrow January 15th,
we the Divine Word Missionaries, will celebrate the feast day of our founder,
Saint Arnold Janssen. Born on November 5, 1837, in Goch (Germany), Arnold
Janssen died on January 15, 1909. He was
beatified on October 19, 1975 and canonized a saint on October 5, 2003 by Pope
John Paul II. His life was filled with a constant search for God’s will which
led him to found three religious congregations, two of which are for women (the
Servants of the Holy Spirits [the actives] and the Servants of the Holy Spirit
of Perpetual Adoration [the Cloistered branch.]) and one for the Missionaries
priests and brothers called in Latin Societas Vebi Divini which means
“Society of the Divine Word”. I am one of them. We are well known as SVD
priests and brothers. At last count in January 2024, we have 48 bishops, 3997
priests, 457 religious brothers, 133 Scholastics/deacons, 864 seminarians in temporary
vows, and 255 novices working and studying throughout five continents. Both
congregations of sisters count over 4200 sisters working around the world.
Together, the bishops, priests, brothers, and sisters of our big religious
family of Saint Arnold Janssen, we continue to invite people to know Jesus,
follow him, and stay with him. I ask you to support and pray for our mission.
Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
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