Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 17, 2021

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 17, 2021

Deacon Anthony J. Cincotta

Saint Mary Magdalen Parish, Media, PA

 

First Book of Samuel 3:3b-10, 10

Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8,8-9, 10

Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20

John 1:35-42

 

            I believe that by using our imaginations we might be more open to the  Word of God in today’s liturgy.  In John’s Gospel narrative we find Jesus walking through a village marketplace stopping now and then to purchase food and drink and to even chat with the vendors.  As he leaves, John, who had baptized Jesus in last week’s Gospel of Saint Mark, recognizes Jesus and with excitement remembers his having also heard the voice from heaven announcing Jesus as the Beloved Son of God.

            John releases his disciples and indicates that they follow Jesus and see what He has to offer them as meaningful for life.  The disciples are caught between what they know as familiar and the new, the unfamiliar to which John points them.  They begin following Jesus at a distance with some natural reluctance.

            John the Baptist has prophetically declared himself not to be the Christ and has publicly ordained Jesus in the waters of the Jordan to be what God has called him to be – The Anointed.  Today we watch and listen as Jesus begins His Church.  The Greek name for Church is literally “The Called.”

            We hear two very good questions, which seem to be a necessary part of Church and call.  Jesus asks the two disciples of John who have begun to follow Him, What are you looking for.”  They respond with a question of their own; they want to know where Jesus stays.  He encourages them to find the answer themselves.  They stayed with Him that day.  It was the first day continuing the theme from Genesis; Christ is the Anointed to be and effect the New Creation. 

            The two disciples who ask where Jesus is staying ask on behalf of all of us.  They discover that Jesus is staying and has come to stay with us, having pitched His tent among us.  They came, they saw and they were converted.

            All of the disciples who left their previous lives to follow Jesus were not given road maps or Owner’s Manuals to accompany their being summoned.  They all received wake-up calls in various ways and then made the decision to follow on their own. 

            Jesus has come to us as “teacher” and we will learn from Him if we have the proper ear to hear.  There are many things that our Lord teaches that are difficult and we wish He hadn’t said them.  Learning takes a humility and a sense that we don’t have it all figured out.  There are many kinds of teachers offering a way, truth and life which resonate with an “improper” ear. 

            Maybe in these early weeks of Ordinary Time we are being invited to get our ears checked.  We are invited to learn what Jesus’ teaching and ways sound like.  We also are in the life-long process of learning what our self-centered world sounds like.  To whom we listen will determine what we hear. 

Question of the Day:  Do you believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him?

Prayer:  “We have found the Messiah: Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.  Alleluia, Alleluia.”

Prosit