2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B
January 14, 2024 8:30 and 11am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
“What are you looking for?”
“What are you looking for?”
These are the first words that Jesus speaks in John’s Gospel. John, like the other gospel writers, is ordering his memories as he writes his account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
And the very first thing he records Jesus saying is: “What are you looking for?” This question must be important.
Jesus is asking this of two disciples of John the Baptist. But in truth, he is also asking this same question to each one of us: “What are you looking for?”
Our Earlier Answers
I think we answer this question in different ways at different times in our lives.
There are some authors who see our life as having two halves. In the first half or earlier years of our life, we answer the question one way.
For example, in our earlier years we may be looking for safety and security. Or to make the cut and be on the soccer team.
We may be looking to be invited to birthday parties of other children or be included in gatherings with our high school classmates. Or to get into the college we want to go to.
We may be looking to get married and have a family. Or to get a good job and get ourselves set financially.
And, I hope, we may be looking to feel okay with God. To obey the commandments and feel assured that we will make it to heaven.
All of these things are good and even important. They help to build a structure for our lives, and we all need that.
Our Later Answers
But then, there comes a time in our lives when we answer Jesus’ question differently – let’s call this the second half of life.
“What are you looking for?” And here, in these years, many of us may answer this question in a similar way.
For example, here we are usually looking for some definitive meaning for our lives. What should I be doing or not doing?
Where can I turn to know what kind of person I should be? Am I working at becoming that kind of person?
For this longing, the disciples in today’s gospel give us a clue. They address Jesus as “Rabbi” which means “Teacher.”
He is the One with the wisdom and insight that really matters. He shows us what to do and the person we are to become.
So, Jesus as “Rabbi” or “Teacher” satisfies our longing for a sense of purpose and direction. He helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”
And then, most of us in these years are looking for hope. We want hope in the midst of physical or emotional suffering.
We want hope when we feel anxious about the future. We want hope when we are in darkness.
For this longing, the disciples today again give us a clue. They address Jesus as “Messiah” which is translated “Christ.”
There had been hope for a Messiah for centuries. So, the disciples are saying that Jesus himself is our hope.
This hope extends even to our own dying. So again, he helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”
And finally, in this half of life most of us are looking for the transcendent. We want to be in relationship with the God who created us.
We want to know something about God, who he is and what he is like. We want some sense that we are close to God and that he is with us on the journey of life.
For this longing, John the Baptist today gives us a clue. He speaks of Jesus as “the Lamb of God.”
The Baptist is referring here to the Passover lamb that was eaten each year to remember God’s presence and saving action centuries ago. But John now speaks of Jesus, a person, as the “Lamb, and even as the “Lamb of God.”
So, Jesus is God with us on the journey of life, close to us, and showing us what he, what God is like. And in that, again, he helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”
Conclusion
So, whatever stage of life I am in right now:
Know – know that Jesus asks each of us this question.
Try to feel – feel the urgency of this question.
And act – act by making an intention to answer this for myself.
“What are you looking for?
