Come and You Will see
HOMILY FOR SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B
It may be difficult for us to grasp that God is intent on us, individually and personally. On the one hand, we might feel that there is a safety in numbers and that it would be easier if we just blended into the crowd, and if there wasn’t too much attention focussed on us. On the other hand, we might long to know God’s personal and direct interest in us, but it might seem too much to hope for, that our weaknesses and sins disqualify us from this kind of attention from God.
However we might feel, today’s readings proclaim that God interacts with us individually and personally, calling us by name. This fundamental premise of Christian spirituality might seem obvious to some, but in all honesty, we would all have to admit how difficult it is at times to enter into this truth. We are not mere numbers, one among many for God; we are known by God and intimately loved by God. Our progress in the spiritual life is about entering more and more deeply into this reality, despite our low spiritual self-esteem, our weaknesses and our doubts.
You see this in the first reading today, when Samuel is called by the Lord. Guided by Eli, the priest, he is able to hear God’s voice, and put himself at the service of God. It is repeated again in the Gospel, in the call of the first disciples. So, likewise, each of us is called by God, by name. In the Gospel, in the call of those first disciples, like in the call of Samuel in the first reading, we are meant to hear and see ourselves being called. As they and Samuel are named, we are called directly and personally.
Following his call, the reading says that Samuel, with his heart oriented to God, never let the word of God fall to the ground. Samuel was always so attuned to God, listening to God, attentive to his words and call, that he never neglected the Word of God. What if each one of us, knowing God’s call on our lives and his tremendous love for us, could be so fundamentally oriented to God, like Samuel? ... What if we would make God our first choice
in everything? What if, at the beginning of each day, and frequently during the day, especially when we are tempted by things that are not of God, or things that take us away from God, or things that would seek to take the place of God in our lives, we could say: I choose God. We could say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
In the second reading from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul says that we are called to live for God. We are called to allow our bodies to become part of the body of Christ. We are called to be worthy temples of the Holy Spirit. Not only did God become one of us in Christ, sharing our human nature in order to show us God and teach us the way of God and lead us back to him; but even more, God puts his Spirit into us. We belong to God.
In Gospel passage, John the Baptist points out Jesus as the Messiah, who is the sacrificial Lamb of God, who will effect reconciliation between human beings and God. John as the son of a temple priest would have been acutely aware of the significance of saying that Jesus is the Lamb of God. These words of his are echoed in every Mass just before Holy Communion. This Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the one who calls us today.
The whole of John’s Gospel, and in particular the passage for today, is a literary and spiritual masterpiece. One insight into the magnificence of this Gospel is the beautiful play on the words associated with seeing and looking in the text that we have just read. Notice that John the Baptist looked at Jesus and said: “Look, Behold, there is the Lamb of God.” Then the two disciples started following Jesus and Jesus saw them. He asked them, “What do you seek, what are you looking for?” In response, they asked him where he lived, and he said: “Come and see”. And they went and saw where he lived. And when Andrew took his brother, Simon to Jesus, we read that Jesus looked at him.
John the Evangelist deliberately emphasises seeing and looking to make a spiritual point, to give us a spiritual message. Jesus looks intently at each one of us, and invites us to come and see where he lives and who he is. Our responding to the call of Jesus involves a holy listening, a seeing, a looking, an attentiveness to the word of God, after the example of Samuel in the first reading.
When John the Baptist looking at Jesus says that he is the Lamb of God, two of his disciples are standing close by, and hearing what John has to say they follow Jesus. Jesus turned and looked at them and asked Andrew and the other disciple, “What are you looking for? ... What do you seek?” It is the same question that confronts every one of us in our lives. What are we seeking in life? What do we think will make us truly happy and fulfilled? The fundamental human desire is for happiness, for contentment, for satisfaction. If we can agree that happiness is what we want, the question becomes: what must I do to be happy; how do I become happy?
The answer to our longing for happiness is that God created the human person with all his or her desires, needs and longings, including the longing for happiness. It’s more than reasonable to assume that God would not hide that happiness from his creatures, but would show the way to obtain it. God created us in such a way that only he, and no created things can completely satisfy our deepest longings. So, we obtain happiness by answering the call of God to live for God and in God.
Andrew and the other disciple responded by asking Jesus where he is staying. We might want to smile at the seeming naivety of the disciples’ question to Jesus. It is as if they don’t really know what to say, they are caught off guard, but they are intrigued, attracted by Jesus. They ask: “Where do you live?,” but perhaps the disciples were also meaning to say, “Who are you? What are you about? What is your mission?” You see, these disciples are not only concerned about where Jesus might sleep that night, but they are really asking where he has his life, in other words, who he is. Maybe without realizing it, they are saying: “Jesus, we are looking for you; we want to stay with you.” Jesus’ answer is both an invitation and a promise: “Come and you will see.” “Come” and “see” are two loaded words throughout John's Gospel. To “come” to Jesus is used to encounter him in faith. For John, to “see” Jesus is to grasp who he is and to believe in him.
The two disciples stayed with Jesus until later that day. This word “stay” or “remain” in John’s Gospel means so much more than just spending time with Jesus; it means an intimate sharing, an entering into relationship with him, a communion with him. They responded to his invitation to believe, discovered what his life was like, and they “stayed with him”. In other words, they became life-long disciples.
This is the invitation to us today. To come and see, and stay, with Jesus. Like Samuel, like the first disciples, we are called by God, individually and by name. God calls and speaks to individuals like you and me.
Spiritual writers teach that God speaks gently and quietly. For us then, we need to cultivate a sensitivity to the gentle voice of God in our lives. To be called does not require that we are perfect or have special attributes, only an openness and holy listening. Samuel and the other prophets of Israel, the fishermen of Galilee, and even the tax collectors that Jesus called, were certainly not called because of their qualifications or achievements. All of us are called.
What would it take for us to allow Jesus to gaze on us, search us, really see us? The call of Jesus involves a total response on our part. When we know he has called us and loved us, we are changed. Today we hear Jesus’ invitation: “Come and you will see”. Today, we hear his call on our lives; and he names us.