Fr. Charlie’s Homily – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 17, 2021 930am

When it took God need to use four attempts to communicate with Samuel in the quiet of the temple, you have to wonder in our own day and age with all these earbuds and video games and listening to music, how does God even have a chance. That’s really what the readings are about today. We finished celebrating the Christmas mystery – that Christ is among us, and now it’s trying to recognize Him. Not only to recognize Him in faith, but to follow Him.

And that’s the challenge that we see going on in the Gospel, especially in John’s gospel. Mark’s is so short so in Year B, we have to use some of John to fill in with Mark. So today, we turn to that moment in John where Jesus walks by John the Baptist, he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” And one of these two disciples that follow Him is Andrew. And they start following Him, and then Jesus turns around and says, “What’re you lookin’ for?” And the question was, “Where are you staying, Rabbi?” And He said, “Come, and you will see.”

That’s important moment, and interesting it’s in John’s gospel that Andrew was there as a disciple of John the Baptist. Normally, that first encounter with the Apostles is at Lake Galilee in the other gospels and then Jesus calling to them. But, here we have Andrew and the first thing he does is to go to Peter. And he said, “Simon, we found the Messiah.” And so he brings Peter, and as soon as he comes, there’s a change of name. The Cephas in Aramaic is Petros in Greek, which means Rock. So, He’s calling him Rocky. And the idea that this tradition is to last through time, is this ability to hear God call.

And I don’t know that we’re hearing. A test and measure of the faith might be the response of young people to vocations like priesthood and religious life. And I don’t know if you heard about my new assignment, but there was a day when St. Mary’s had four priests in the Rectory over there, and now one priest is doing two churches. And there’s five pastors in Lorain County that are administering to two churches. So, somewhere this communication isn’t getting through.

So, in John’s gospel, when He invites to come and see, we are looking to that moment where we approach the Lord and see what he is about. I would refer to another moment where Jesus is preaching to the crowd and this is where he gets Peter, in the other gospel, and says “can I borrow your boat a minute, I mean I need to push out from shore so I can talk to all these people. And that’s what they do, they go in there and then when it’s time to finish up, Jesus says, “let’s go out fishing.” And Peter scratches his head, because he’s a pro at this and he says, “Lord, we’ve been fishing all night; there’s nothing out there, but if you say so, we’ll go on out.” Well, they go out and no sooner do they lower the nets, going out into the deep, going out into the deep, getting beyond just the surface of our daily living, and the nets are just filled with fish; it takes two boats to get ‘em in. And it’s at that moment that Peter makes that profession of faith.

But that’s the point; that Jesus comes among us to reveal this deeper level. And so, when that question was asked of Andrew and the disciple, ‘what are you looking for,’ as you read through John’s gospel, there’s another moment when that question comes up. At the tomb, Mary Magdalene comes out and she sees what she thinks is the gardener and he says to her, “What are you looking for?” And she says, “I’m looking for the body of Jesus.” And he says to her, “Mary.” As soon as He says her name, her eyes are opened; she realizes that this is the Lord. And this is the relationship He has with us. He takes us; He, in a certain sense changes the reality of who we are, in our name. And the individual attention; how many times He had to call Samuel before he finally heard Him and listened to Him. Th

e same for us, He keeps knocking on our door and we’re not there, we’re too busy, we’re caught up in the things in the world around us to go out into the deep, to enter into the deep. And so, we miss seeing His presence in our life, in our world. And the creation around us; we don’t glory in that creation anymore; we don’t give thanks. In the gift of His revelation through one another, each one created in God’s image, we’re not seeing Christ; we’re not seeing the Spirit in the other.

And, I think especially as the Eucharist here, when we have just bread and wine; if we don’t have the vision of faith, can we see the deeper reality that’s being communicated. God, in His love, wants to put His arms around us, because like Mary, and the empty tomb, He wants to draw us into that mystery of His love, to help us escape through death’s door.

So, we pray for that that there’s so much distracting us, and I don’t think we’re gonna solve the problem until we go out into the deep, when we realize in the truth of Christ, when our life is established in the truth of Christ, with revelatory of God’s love, that we will respect and love and care for one another.

I think this is a good week to do it, as we remember Martin Luther King; and the problem of racism in our world; when we look to the Supreme Court Decision. The lack of respect that here’s a person created in God’s image; if people understood and saw that, you couldn’t even think of an abortion.

So, it’s bringing and calling to mind hearing God’s voice and responding that’s critical here. And until we start doing it, who believe, we can’t expect it of those in the world around us. So, we pray, again, looking at this bread and wine, the power and love of God, seeking communion, calling us, that we may respond and show that gift of His love to the world around us.