THE INVITATION

[1]Can you look back over the years and pick out one day that touched you in a defining way and set you on a course for the rest of your life? Mine was in the Spring of 2004. After a couple of years away from the Church, on this particular day, I accepted Judy’s invitation to attend Sunday Mass.  After Mass, I found myself alone in the atrium area of the church in front of a table where they were signing up men to attend a Christ Renews His Parish retreat. I can’t say for sure what I was looking for, as I approached the table, but they invited me to “Come and you will see.” (Jn 1:39) This invitation would change the course of my life.

In the Gospel of John there is no nativity story, no background about Jesus or his ancestry. Instead, there is, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” (Jn 1:36) This is John the Baptist’s Annunciation. Here God’s entrance to human history isn’t heralded by an angel. It’s proclaimed, instead by a prophet on the banks of the Jordan river. One solitary man sees another, and cannot help but bear witness—to testify—and cry out for the world to look and to believe. So, I’m pretty sure, without the benefit of a back story and the beautiful history we relive through the Gospels of Matthew & Luke each year, the two disciples followed Jesus out of curiosity to discover who he was and the meaning of John’s testimony.[2]

Jesus, turns to find them following him and asks the most fundamental question in life: “What are you looking for?” (Jn 1:38) The disciples didn’t know how to answer. They didn’t know how to put into words their questions, their deepest desires, so they instead asked, “Where are you staying?” and Jesus invites them to “come, and you will see.”

At that moment in time, the disciples had no idea that before the sun set, a new relationship would develop and the whole direction of their lives would be changed.[3] How do relationships begin? Some relationships begin in childhood, their origins hazy with time, while others start late in life; but some factors, it seems, are essential to every relationship. 

There must be some ATTENTIVENESS to one’s setting to even start a relationship. In our first reading we hear of a boy, Samuel, who was dedicated to the temple, entrusted to the priest Eli, a mother’s thanksgiving to God for her son.  Samuel heard the voice of God, but he could not identify it.  Why did Samuel make the mistake of thinking it was Eli’s voice calling him? Attentive listening is essential to start a relationship, but an INTRODUCTION is often necessary, an introduction by someone who already has an established relationship, especially with God, whose voice can be mistaken, ignored, or overlooked in a world that values distractions and disharmony over patient listening. While attentive listening and an introduction are important, they are not enough without an OPENNESS to begin and maintain a relationship. We are told that “as Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” (1Sm 3:19) We see this same openness to build a relationship with the two disciples of John the Baptist.[4] They were so excited in finding Jesus that they went and got their brother to introduce him to Jesus.

This kind of remarkable life changing relationships still happens. Every day, we meet Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. If we are attentive, we can come in touch with the living God who transforms us by grace and opens horizons never dreamed of. How are we being introduced to Jesus, by poor people and rich people, by struggling people and successful people, scholars and illiterates, and everyone in between. They are women and men, old and young, of every race and nationality. If we would just attentively listen, accept their introduction, and be open to beginning and maintaining a relationship.  All we need is to be open to spending a little time together…to be willing to go wherever the Holy Spirit leads. Jesus is asking us, “What are you looking for?” How do we answer? Where do we start?

John’s testimony, his introduction into the mystery of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those [invited] to the supper of the Lamb”[5] is a bold challenge. Do we see what John saw? How many of us act as heralds for Christ, to be the invitation—not so much with the words we speak, but with the lives we live? We need to remember: Belief is more than the creed we profess and faith is much more than the prayers we recite every Sunday at Mass.

Faith is a testimony, lived every day.

It is a testimony of missionary disciples, who offer their lives to people in broken and grieving places.

It is the testimony of the unnamed saints we encounter every day, in offices and schools, at the bus stop, on the train, or on street corners, in supermarkets, and on social media sites.

It is the testimony of all who seek somehow to bring Christ to others and heal a wounded world.

All these examples and more testify to the Christian life.  They speak of hope and belief in a world too often overcome by despair and doubt. This beautiful fact remains: The work of John the Baptist didn’t end at the banks of the Jordan.  It goes on today.  All of us are called to proclaim and witness, to be a testimony of God’s presence in the world.

What are you looking for? Chances are good, that if we could develop a new relationship when we are attentive to our environment, our ordinary surroundings (the people and creation), if we attentively listen for the invitation (an invitation to know and love God in all things and people), and are open to a defining Holy Spirit moment that can change the whole direction of our lives. This is Eucharistic meal is our invitation to “Come and you will see.”

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[1] New American Bible Revised.  1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John 1:35-42

[2] A Stranger and You Welcomed Me Edited by Deacon Jim Knipper. Story by Deacon Greg Kendra © by contributors.

[3] Sundays with Jesus by James DiGiacomo, SJ © 2008.

[4] The Word on the Street, by John W. Martins © 2017.

[5] The Roman Missal, Third Edition, Communion Rite, para. 132.