Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scriptures for today's Mass
Audio for homily
Have you noticed, when you’re out
shopping,
when you go to a register to pay for
your purchases,
have you noticed how often now the
clerk asks you the question,
“Did you find everything you were looking
for?”
The older I get, the more often that
question reminds me,
that indeed I’ve forgotten exactly what
it was
that I came into to the store to buy in
the first place!
On my way to find whatever it was I
went shopping for,
I get distracted by other things:
other items catch my attention and turn
my head, so much so
that I blank out on the item I
originally wanted to get.
“Did
you find everything you were looking for?”
What brings all this to mind
is something Jesus said in the
scripture we just heard.
In fact, we just heard the very first words Jesus speaks in John’s
gospel
and his words are these:
“What
are you looking for?”
And Jesus might well ask each of us
here today the same question,
“What are you looking for?”
Can’t you hear him starting a
conversation with us?
Jesus saying:
“So…you
got up early, you stopped whatever you were doing,
got
yourself and maybe your family dressed for the weather,
left
the house, got everyone into the car (some against their will)
made
your way here, couldn’t find a parking place,
then
finally found one, came into church, said a prayer,
sang
a song or two, listened to some folks read from the bible
and
now your pastor is asking you,
‘Why
are you here?
What
are you looking for?’”
There might be many reasons we’re here
today
and as many if not many more answers to the question,
“What are you looking for?”
• Some of us may be here out of habit:
going to church is something we do
every weekend -
or most weekends - or at least fairly
regularly.
• Some of us are here to satisfy
an obligation:
we know we’re supposed to go to church on Sunday
and so we’re here to fulfill a duty
that’s ours.
• Some of us are here because someone
else insisted we come,
perhaps a parent or a spouse.
• Some of us might be surprised to find
ourselves here:
we don’t usually come and perhaps
haven’t come for a long time
but something moved us this weekend -
and here we are -
and here’s the preacher asking,
“What are you doing here?”
• And some of us are here simply
because we want to be here,
because we want and need and treasure
this time each week
set aside for prayer.
We’re here for many reasons
and we’re looking for many different
things.
• Some of us are here looking for
peace,
for an hour set apart from our harried,
hurried lives,
an hour to do what we’d like to do
every day - pray -
something we often forget to make the
time for.
• Some of us are here looking for
answers
answers to difficult, confounding
questions
that haunt our minds and hearts.
• Some of us might be here looking
for mercy,
for God’s forgiveness of our faults and
failings.
• Some of us are looking for a
word, a message,
for something to carry us through a
difficult time
or just through the week ahead.
• Some of us are looking to say “Thanks!”
to God,
to praise the Lord for some one or some
thing in our lives
for which we’re grateful.
• Some of us may not be sure what
we’re looking for.
We might feel lost and unsure of where
to turn next
so we’re looking for an “information
desk”
to get some directions, some guidance,
and we’re hoping that church might be just
the place to find that.
• Some of us are here looking for
wisdom, a word of counsel,
looking for help in knowing how to read
the signs of the times,
and how to understand, interpret and
respond
to the craziness in the headlines and
in the world around us.
We’re looking for wisdom, a wisdom
greater than our own,
because we’re at least wise enough to
know
our own wisdom isn’t enough.
• And some of us here are looking for
healing:
healing in our bodies,
the healing of a wounded heart, a
grieving heart,
of troubled thoughts,
the healing of broken promises and
relationships,
the healing of grudges and resentments.
the healing of fears and anxieties.
• And some of us are just looking for
the Lord, looking for Jesus,
like Andrew and John in the gospel story
today.
And like those two early disciples,
we have the same question for Jesus:
“Lord, where are you staying?”
Where
are you, Lord? Where can we find you?
Sometimes
it seems like you hide from us, Jesus.
And
sometimes it seems we know just where you are but then -
poof
- you seem to disappear!
So,
where are you? Where do you stay?
Where
can we find you?”
And the Lord’s answer?
“Come, and you will see. Come, and you will see…”
Come,
follow me… walk with me… take my path,
walk
in my footsteps…
It
won’t always be an easy path
but
I’ve already walked it ahead of you
and
I’ll walk every step of it with you, right by your side.”
Remember my opening question?
“Did you find everything you were looking
for?”
I hope you found yourself in some of my
words just now
and more importantly,
I hope and pray you find the Lord
who is always looking for you.
When I go shopping I find that things
along the way
grab my attention and turn my head, so
much so,
that I easily forget what it was I went
out to buy.
When I come to church, there can be so
many distractions
here and back at home and at work and
at school,
so
many distractions
that I end up missing what it was I
came looking for.
So, let’s pray for God’s Spirit to
sweep our minds and hearts of distractions
and open us up to Jesus, the One we’re
looking for,
the One who meets us here at his table
in the Bread and Cup of the Eucharist.
He makes of our church the place where
he stays right now,
the place of his presence,
so that gathered together here,
we might rest a while in his peace.
May we all find what we’re looking for
and leave here at the end of our time
together,
leave here with Jesus walking at our
side.
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