Gospel: January 14, 2024
(Sunday)
2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 40: 2, 4. 7-8, 8-9, 10 (8a, 9a)
Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will
1st Reading: 1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 192nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 6: 13c-15a, 17-20Gospel: John 1: 35-42On the following day, John was standing there again, with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and said, “There is the Lamb of God.” On hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. He turned and saw them following, and he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They answered, “Rabbi (which means Master), where are you staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he stayed, and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard what John had said, and followed Jesus. Early the next morning, he found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ), and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but you shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).
Reflection:Lectio Divina
Read: John the Baptist introduced Jesus to two of his disciples. He pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus asked the two disciples what were they seeking. These disciples were seeking where Jesus abides. Jesus invited them to come and see where he abides. These disciples spent time with Jesus. Andrew was one of the two. Andrew introduced Simon Peter to Jesus. Jesus gave Simon Peter a new name—Cephas, which means Rock.
Reflect: Two of Jesus’ early disciples were originally the disciples of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, in the Gospel of John, is a witness. He bears witness to Jesus by encouraging his disciples to enter into a loving relationship with Jesus. To enter with this kind of relationship with the Lord is a process. We need to be introduced and, once introduced, we must engage in an ongoing search for the place where Jesus abides. We also need to spend time with the Lord to discover that the very place where he abides is where love is. Whenever we respond to this call of entering into loving relationship with God and with one another, we are spending time with Jesus and we are at the very place where Jesus abides.
Pray: Let us pray that we may truly enter into a loving relationship with God and with one another.
Act: Let us be more loving. Let us concretize our goodwill by being kinder in words and actions.
