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Andrew’s willingness to evangelize brought Peter to become a disciple of the Lord. Andrew’s love for Peter moved him to share the truth and joy he had found. How blessed to have someone care enough to step out in faith and share the life found only in Jesus. — Allison Gingras (LPi Connect)
Word to Eucharist: We have come forward, like John’s disciples, at the Lord’s call. It remains for us to see, not as anonymous places in a waiting line but as long-time searchers.
Liturgical and pastoral resources from National Catholic Reporter’s Celebration 2018 archive. Each Saturday, NCR publishes reflections on the Sunday readings for the current year.
“Speak, for your servant is listening.” — 2 Samuel 3:10
1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19
FIRST READING — The prophet and judge Samuel had served the nation of ancient Israel between the time when they were settling in the Promised Land and the beginning of the monarchy under King Saul. He represents a transition in the form of leadership. The confederacy of tribes is brought closertogether in anticipation of the rule of kings which will be inaugurated by Samuel in the anointing of Saul and then of David. Samuel himself was a Nazarite:one dedicated to God by special vow. A prophet, a priest, and a political leader, Shiloh was the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant since there was as yet no Temple. Samuel is called by God to a special role of service. The call came to him in the temporary sanctuary of the Lord, in the night,perhaps just before dawn. Luke’s Gospel will find parallels between Jesus and Samuel –the child of twelve in the Temple. Thus, Samuel becomes a pre-figure of Christ.
FIRST READING — In this beautiful call-response story, Patricia Sanchez notes six dimensions of the call-response dynamic.
A senior Hebrew priest and his young apprentice have an encounter with God. Even the senior takes a while to understand. The apprentice will become a leader of the nation.
This book begins a long narrative of what we might call ancient Israel’s middle history. Their land is settled and the age of the Exodus is over. Moses, Aaron, and Joshua are gone. The period of rule by Judges had begun at about 1000 BCE. In the first chapter of this book, Samuel is born to a long-barren couple by divine intervention. They dedicated him to God’s service in the temple at Shiloh (not the later grand temple to be built by Solomon on Mount Zion in Jerusalem). Young Samuel is an apprentice to the priest Eli.
While preparing your proclamation, try telling this story in your own words. Tell it to yourself or someone in your home. You’re likely to use far more words than the text itself. Here’s the beginning of my version, as compactly as I can write it:
Clear enough? Yes, but you don’t have the luxury of rewriting the Bible. You don’t have a summary to recite but a terse narrative. The characters are not introduced by description, age or occupation (well, the occupation of the Lord goes without saying). The context is a “temple,” but the author just assumes you know what the “ark of God” is (like he assumes you’ve read chapters 1 and 2, also). This all threatens to be even less clear to contemporary worshipers listening to the story for the first time in at least three years.
So how will you help them out? As always, slow down. Use pauses and different tones of voice to distinguish the three speakers. When you finish the first, “You called me,” your listeners should realize that Samuel has mistaken the identity of the one who called him. Put some drama in the speaker’s words. The second and third time he runs to Eli, Samuel should sound confused if not exasperated.
Listeners are used to things happening in threes, after which they expect a resolution. So put a significant pause after the third “You called me.” Let the tension build for a moment before you say, with relief and understanding in your voice, “Then Eli understood …”
Also emphasize that the Lord “revealed his presence” in his last call of Samuel.
In the First Reading, Samuel, an adopted son of the High Priest Eli, received a divine call to prophetic service when he was a child sleeping in the Sanctuary. The Lord called Samuel three times before he realized that it was the voice of God calling him. He responded to God’s call the fourth time and submitted his entire life to God’s holy service.
I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. He draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay, sets my feet upon rock, steadies my steps — Psalm 40:2-3
Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
The response of the true disciple is an unqualified acceptance of God’s will: “Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.”
40:1-5 God’s timing is always worth waiting for. If we look to him for help, he will rescue us from destruction and despair and from the things that hold us down. He will also bring stability to our life so we can move forward again with confidence and joy. If we are to experience God’s best for our life (which far exceeds anything we can imagine), we need to rely on him alone and avoid any entanglements with those who could lead us away from God and his plan for us.
In the Psalm Reading, attributed to David, he expresses his understanding that the Lord wants willing obedience and humble contrition from sinners. He acknowledges that the kind of sacrifice that is pleasing to God is the sacrifice of self-interest in a relationship in which love of God comes before love of self.
This psalm, attributed to David, expresses his gratitude for what God has done for him. He begins with a confession of his distress as he waited for the Lord to help him. The Lord heard him in his time of need and delivered him. In response, he expresses his gratitude as God inspires him in singing “a new song” that is a hymn that of praise to God in this psalm (verse 4).
7 Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
It is through his intimate relationship with the Lord that the psalmist understands the true meaning of sacrificial offerings made in the liturgy of worship. It is not the animal the Lord wants as a sin sacrifice. God wants the willing obedience of the offerer in living within the boundaries of His commandments, and He wants the humble contrition of the sinner whose true sacrifice is the sacrifice of self-interest in a relationship in which love of God comes before love of self (verses 7-8).
8 then said I, “Behold I come. In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,9 to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!”
In verses 8-9, the psalmist addresses God directly, announcing that his joy comes from living in obedience to the precepts of the Law. The Law isn’t just words on a page (scroll), but it is the path of life that God has engraved on his heart.
10 I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
In addition to keeping the commandments, the psalmist understands that his dedication to God must be active and not passive, vocal and not silent. He must proclaim the goodness of God in the liturgical assembly of worship, testifying to others about the good things God has done for him. This is the visual and active commitment that Jesus spoke of in His last homily when He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (Jn 14:15) and what St. James encouraged in his New Testament letter to the universal Church, writing, For just as body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (Jam 2:26).
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. — 1 Corinthians 6:19
1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20
SECOND READING — What are the ethical and moral imperatives of the Christian faith? Since we have been baptized and now our bodies have become part of the Body of Christ, it is no longer possible to separate and isolate the things of the body from the things of the soul. What we do in the flesh has an impact on the quality of our spiritual living. Corinth was known even among the pagans for its rather low moral standards. Prostitution was rampant. Temple worship in Corinth at times involved “sacred prostitution.”Some Christians went so far as to say that they could still “worship”with the temple prostitutes, since this “only involves the body.”Paul sets them straight on the inseparability of body and soul. The body is sacred by reason of baptism. Do not make profane what God has made holy!
SECOND READING — During the first six Sundays of Ordinary Time, the second reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In his letter, Paul addresses the question of how to live as faithful disciples in a pagan world. Sexual promiscuity is one of the problems Paul encounters in the port town of Corinth. Some Corinthian Christians believe that their bodies, like all mortal things, will pass away and they can therefore do anything they want, e.g., engaging in unrestrained eating, drinking, sexual activity, etc. Paul thinks otherwise. He uses a striking parallel, reminding them that in baptism, our body (and spirit) is given to Christ; hence, it belongs to Christ. Because our body belongs to Christ, it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, it is wrong and sinful for anyone bound by Christian marriage to give his/her body to another outside that sacred bond—which mirrors Christ’s love for his Church.
St. Paul admonished the Christian community at Corinth in the Second Reading to avoid acts of immorality. He reminded the Corinthians that in the Sacrament of Christian Baptism they have been reborn to new life in Christ, and their bodies became temples of the Holy Spirit. They have become members of Christ’s Body and are meant to live in an intimate relationship of holiness with Him, sharing in Christ’s life and being “one spirit” with Him.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” — John 1:38-39a
Jn 1:35-42
SOURCE: Our Sunday Visitor
GOSPEL —John’s Gospel is used today, even in the Year of Mark (Cycle B), to give an account of the selection of the first disciples by Jesus. We need to remember that the Gospels, particularly John’s, are not interested in merely giving an account of what happened. They always intend to convey what is the meaning of what happened. The meaning of discipleship is the issue here.
This passage is not inconsistent with the theme of Mark’s Gospel,which we will read during the remainder of the year. Discipleship holds center stage in Mark. We will have an opportunity this whole year to consider how we have responded to Jesus’ call.
John the Baptist’s role and mission is to point to the Messiah. But even after his death, apparently, some of his disciples did not automatically become followers of Jesus.
Even as this Gospel is being written at the beginning of the second century, there exists a sect of the followers of John the Baptist who have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. John the Evangelist wants to reach out to them, too. He uses this occasion to point the surviving group of the Baptist’s disciples toward Jesus and toward the community that continues his work and mission.
When the followers of John the Baptist ask Jesus where he lives, they are not asking for his address. In Jewish forms of thinking they are asking, “What are you really all about?”Jesus replies that one has to come and live with him that is come and become like him before one can see. Knowledge of the person of Jesus is not something in the head or in the intellect. It is in the whole being.
Andrew fills the role of a true disciple here. He brings his brother to Jesus! As disciples of Jesus, we too need to bring others to a deeper understanding or insight concerning Jesus. We too must stay with him, become identified with him, and merge our hearts into his. Then,we can share our experience with others.
© 2017 Portland Diocese / Father Clement D. Thibodeau. Used with permission.
GOSPEL — Just as Eli in today’s first reading introduced Samuel to the Lord, John the Baptist, in this Gospel, introduces two of his disciples to Jesus (which underlines John’s subordinate role). John’s ministry is (as is ours) to introduce others to Christ. When the two disciples begin to follow Jesus, he asks them: “What are you looking for?”—or, simply put, “What does your heart seek?” They answer with a question of their own: “Rabbi, where do you live?” Jesus replies: “Come and see.” So they go off to have a long chat (a mini-retreat) with Jesus. During their “stay” with him, the eyes of the two disciples are opened to his true identity.
“Seeing” and “staying” are key terms in John’s Gospel. The one whose eyes are opened to who Jesus truly is, is invited to come and stay with Jesus, to come and share Jesus’ relationship with his Father. It is an introduction into a life of discipleship, which leads one into “staying”with the Blessed Trinity.
Having had their eyes opened, one of the two disciples, Andrew, seeks out his brother, Simon, and introduces him to Jesus. Jesus immediately changes Simon’s name to Cephas, meaning “rock.” Henceforth, Peter will have a key and central role in the new community of believers.
In each of the Gospels, the climax is the declaration that Jesus is my Son. Whenever I say it, with its accompanying images of the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending, I raise the account to the level of God’s presence.
In the Gospel Reading, Simon (Peter) meets Jesus for the first time. It is his brother, Andrew, who makes the introduction that will change their lives forever.
The Catena Aurea (Golden Chain) is Thomas Aquinas’ compilation of Patristic commentary on the Gospels. It seamlessly weaves together extracts from various Church Fathers.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. [al. xvii.] 1) Many not having attended to John’s words at first, he rouses them a second time: Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples.
BEDE. (Hom. in Vigil. S. And.) John stood, because he had ascended that citadel of all excellences, from which no temptations could cast him down: his disciples stood with him, as stout-hearted followers of their master.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. [al. xvii.] c. 2) But wherefore went he not all about, preaching in every place of Judæa; instead of standing near the river, waiting for His coming, that he might point Him out? Because he wished this to be done by the works of Christ Himself. And observe how much greater an effort was produced; He struck a small spark, and suddenly it rose into a flame. Again, if John had gone about and preached, it would have seemed like human partiality, and great suspicion would have been excited. Now the Prophets and Apostles all preached Christ absent; the former before His appearance in the flesh, the latter after His assumption. But He was to be pointed out by the eye, not by the voice only; and therefore it follows: And looking upon Jesus us He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
THEOPHYLACT. Looking he saith, as if signifying by his looks his love and admiration for Christ.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 8) John was the friend of the Bridegroom; he sought not his own glory, but bare witness to the truth. And therefore he wished not his disciples to remain with him, to the hindrance of their duty to follow the Lord; but rather shewed them whom they should follow, saying, Behold the Lamb of God.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. 1. in Joan) He makes not a long discourse, having only one object before him, to bring them and join them to Christ; knowing that they would not any further need his witness. (c. 2.). John does not however speak to his disciples alone, but publicly in the presence of all. And so, undertaking to follow Christ, through this instruction common to all, they remained thenceforth firm, following Christ for their own advantage, not as an act of favour to their masterx. John does not exhort: he simply gazes in admiration on Christ, pointing out the gifty He came to bestow, the cleansing from sin: and the mode in which this would be accomplished: both of which the word Lamb testifies to. Lamb has the article affixed to it, as a sign of preeminence.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 5) For He alone and singly is the Lamb without spot, without sin; not because His spots are wiped off, but because He never had a spot. He alone is the Lamb of God, for by His blood alone can men be redeemed. (c. 6). This is the Lamb whom the wolves fear; even the slain Lamb, by whom the lion was slain.
BEDE. (Hom. 1) The Lamb therefore he calls Him; for that He was about to give us freely His fleece, that we might make of it a wedding garment; i. e. would leave us an example of life, by which we should be warmed into love.
ALCUIN. John stands in a mystical sense, the Law having ceased, and Jesus comes, bringing the grace of the Gospel, to which that same Law bears testimony. Jesus walks, to collect disciples.
BEDE. (Hom. in Vigil. S. And.) The walking of Jesus has a reference to the economy of the Incarnation, by means of which He has condescended to come to us, and give us a pattern of life.
ALCUIN. John having borne witness that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the disciples who had been hitherto with him, in obedience to his command, followed Jesus: And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. 1 et sq.) Observe; when he said, He that cometh after me is made before me, and, Whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, he gained over none; but when he made mention of the economy, and gave his discourse a humbler turn, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, then his disciples followed Christ. For many persons are less influenced by the thoughts of God’s greatness and majesty, than when they hear of His being man’s Helper and Friend; or any thing pertaining to the salvation of men. Observe too, when John says, Behold the Lamb of God, Christ says nothing. The Bridegroom stands by in silence; others introduce Him, and deliver the Bride into His hands; He receives her, and so treats her that she no longer remembers those who gave her in marriage. Thus Christ came to unite to Himself the Church; He said nothing Himself; but John, the friend of the Bridegroom, came forth, and put the Bride’s right hand in His; i. e. by his preaching delivered into His hands men’s souls, whom receiving He so disposed of, that they returned no more to John. And observe farther; As at a marriage the maiden goes not to meet the bridegroom, (even though it be a king’s son who weds a humble handmaid,) but he hastens to her; so is it here. For human nature ascended not into heaven, but the Son of God came down to human nature, and took her to His Father’s house. Again; There were disciples of John who not only did not follow Christ, but were even enviously disposed toward Him; but the better part heard, and followed; not from contempt of their former master, but by his persuasion; because he promised them that Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost. And see with what modesty their zeal was accompanied. They did not straight way go and interrogate Jesus on great and necessary doctrines, nor in public, but sought private converse with Him; for we are told that Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? Hence we learn, that when we once begin to form good resolutions, God gives us opportunities enough of improvement. Christ asks the question, not because He needed to be told, but in order to encourage familiarity and confidence, and shew that He thought them worthy of His instructions.
THEOPHYLACT. (in loc.) Observe then, that it was upon those who followed Him, that our Lord turned His face and looked upon them. Unless thou by thy good works follow Him, thou shalt never be permitted to see His face, or enter into His dwelling.
ALCUIN. The disciples followed behind His back, in order to see Him, and did not see His face. So He turns round, and, as it were, lowers His majesty, that they might be enabled to behold His face.
ORIGEN. (tom. ii. c. 29) Perhaps it is not without a reason, that after six testimonies John ceases to bear witness, and Jesus asks seventhly, What seek ye?
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. in Joan. sparsim) And besides following Him, their questions shewed their love for Christ; They said unto Him, Rabbi, (which is, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest Thou? They call Him, Master, before they have learnt any thing from Him; thus encouraging themselves in their resolution to become disciples, and to shew the reason why they followed.
ORIGEN. An avowal, befitting persons who came from hearing John’s testimony. They put themselves under Christ’s teaching, and express their desire to see the dwelling of the Son of God.
ALCUIN. They do not wish to be under His teaching for a time only, but enquire where He abides; wishing an immediate initiation in the secrets of His word, and afterwards meaning often to visit Him, and obtain fuller instruction. And, in a mystical sense too, they wish to know in whom Christ dwells, that profiting by their example they may themselves become fit to be His dwelling. Or, their seeing Jesus walking, and straightway enquiring where He resides, is an intimation to us, that we should, remembering His Incarnation, earnestly entreat Him to shew us our eternal habitation. The request being so good a one, Christ promises a free and full disclosure. He saith unto them, Come and see: that is to say, My dwelling is not to be understood by words, but by works; come, therefore, by believing and working, and then see by understanding.
ORIGEN. (tom. ii. c. 29) Or perhaps come, is an invitation to action; see, to contemplation.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. [al. xvii.] 3) Christ does not describe His house and situation, but brings them after Him, shewing that he had already accepted them as His own. He says not, It is not the time now, to-morrow ye shall hear if ye wish to learn; but addresses them familiarly, as friends who had lived with him a long time. But how is it that He saith in another place, The Son of man hath not where to lay His head? (Matt. 8:20) when here He says, Come and see where I live? His not having where to lay His head, could only have meant that He had no dwelling of His own, not that He did not live in a house at all: for the next words arc, They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day. Why they stayed the Evangelist does not say: it being obviously for the sake of His teaching.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 9) What a blessed day and night was that! Let us too build up in our hearts within, and make Him an house, whither He may come and teach us.
THEOPHYLACT. And it was about the tenth hour. The Evangelist mentions the time of day purposely, as a hint both to teachers and learners, not to let time interfere with their work.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. 3) It shewed a strong desire to hear Him, since even at sunset they did not turn from Him. To sensual persons the time after meals is unsuitable for any grave employment, their bodies being overloaded with food. But John, whose disciples these were, was not such an one. His evening was a more abstemious one than our mornings.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 10) The number here signifies the law, which was composed of ten commandments. The time had come when the law was to be fulfilled by love, the Jews, who acted from fear, having been unable to fulfil it, and therefore was it at the tenth hour that our Lord heard Himself called, Rabbi; none but the giver of the law is the teacher1 of the law.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xviii. 3) One of the two which heard John speak and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Why is the other name left out? Some say, because this Evangelist himself was that other. Others, that it was a disciple of no eminence, and that there was no use in telling his name any more than those of the seventy-two, which are omitted.
ALCUIN. Or it would seem that the two disciples who followed Jesus were Andrew and Philip.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Chrys. Hom. xix. 1) Andrew kept not our Lord’s words to himself; but ran in haste to his brother, to report the good tidings: He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
BEDE. (Hom. in Vig. St. Andr.) This is truly to find the Lord; viz. to have fervent love for Him, together with a care for our brother’s salvation.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xix. [al. xviii.] 1) The Evangelist docs not mention what Christ said to those who followed Him; but we may infer it from what follows. Andrew declares in few words what he had learnt, discloses the power of that Master Who had persuaded them, and his own previous longings after Him. For this exclamation, We have found, expresses a longing for His coming, turned to exultation, now that He was really come.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 13) Messias in Hebrew, Christus in Greek, Unctus in Latin. Chrism is unction, and He had a special unction, which from Him extended to all Christians, as appears in the Psalm, God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows1. (Ps. 44, [45]) All holy persons arc partakers with Him; but He is specially the Holy of Holies, specially anointed.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xix. 1, 2) And therefore he said not Messias, but the Messias. Mark the obedience of Peter from the very first; ho went immediately without delay, as appears from the next words: And he brought him to Jesus. Nor let us blame him as too yielding, because he did not ask many questions, before he received the word. It is reasonable to suppose that his brother had told him all, and sufficiently fully; but the Evangelists often make omissions for the sake of brevity. But, besides this, it is not absolutely said that he did believe, but only, He took him to Jesus; i. e. to learn from the mouth of Jesus Himself, what Andrew had reported. Our Lord begins now Himself to reveal the things of His Divinity, and to exhibit them gradually by prophecy. For prophecies are no less persuasive than miracles; inasmuch as they are preeminently God’s work, and are beyond the power of devils to imitate, while miracles may be phantasy or appearance: the foretelling future events with certainty is an attribute of the incorruptible nature alone: And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
BEDE. (Hom. i. Temp. Hier. in Vig. S. Andr.) He beheld him not with His natural eye only, but by the insight of His Godhead discerned from eternity the simplicity and greatness of his soul, for which he was to be elevated above the whole Church. In the word Peter, we must not look for any additional meaning, as though it were of Hebrew or Syriac derivation; for the Greek and Latin word Peter, has the same meaning as Cephas; being in both languages derived from petra. He is called Peter on account of the firmness of his faith, in cleaving to that Rock, of which the Apostle speaks, And that Rock was Christ; (1 Cor. 10:4) which secures those who trust in it from the snares of the enemy, and dispenses streams of spiritual gifts.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 14) There was nothing very great in our Lord saying whose son he was, for our Lord knew the names of all His saints, having predestinated them before the foundation of the world. But it was a great thing for our Lord to change his name from Simon to Peter. Peter is from petra, rock, which rock is the Church: so that the name of Peter represents the Church. And who is safe, unless he build upon a rock? Our Lord here rouses our attention: for had he been called Peter before, we should not have seen the mystery of the Rock, and should have thought that he was called so by chance, and not providentially. God therefore made him to be called by another name before, that the change of that name might give vividness to the mystery.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xix. [al. xviii. 2]) He changed the name too to shew that He was the same who done so before in the Old Testament; who had called Abram Abraham, Sarai Sarah, Jacob Israel. Many He had named from their birth, as Isaac and Samson; others again after being named by their parents, as were Peter, and the sons of Zebedee. Those whose virtue was to be eminent from the first, have names given them from the first; those who were to be exalted afterwards, are named afterwards.
AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Evang. l. ii. c. 17) The account here of the two disciples on the Jordan, who follow Christ (before he had gone into Galilee) in obedience to John’s testimony; viz. of Andrew bringing his brother Simon to Jesus, who gave him, on this occasion, the name of Peter; disagrees considerably with the account of the other Evangelists, viz. that our Lord found these two, Simon and Andrew, fishing in Galilee, and then bid them follow Him: unless we understand that they did not regularly join our Lord when they saw Him on the Jordan; but only discovered who He was, and full of wonder, then returned to their occupations. Nor must we think that Peter first received his name on the occasion mentioned in Matthew, when our Lord says, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church; (Mat. 16:18) but rather when our Lord says, Thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
ALCUIN. Or perhaps He does not actually give him the name now, but only fixes beforehand what He afterwards gave him when He said, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church. And while about to change his name, Christ wishes to shew that even that which his parents had given him, was not without a meaning. For Simon signifies obedience, Joanna grace, Jona a dove: as if the meaning was; Thou art an obedient son of grace, or of the dove, i. e. the Holy Spirit; for thou hast received of the Holy Spirit the humility, to desire, at Andrew’s call, to see Me. The elder disdained not to follow the younger; for where there is meritorious faith, there is no order of seniority.
FIRST READING
Have I experienced God in the early morning? Or, have I experienced my own weakness? Can I see my self as Eli or as Samuel? Or as both?
PSALM
Have you ever been happy in the midst of bad times? Or have you ever been sad when you should have rejoiced? Why do you feel you experienced these contradictions? How does your spirituality and prayer life reflect your life’s condition? How can prayer help you weather the times of transition in life?
SECOND READING
Sit for a few moments and relax. As you sense your body’s rhythms (or pains), thank God for the gift he gave you. Let those rhythms (or pains) remind you that you belong to God.
GOSPEL
When was the last time you received an invitation? What expectations did you have? Have you ever been surprised by what you saw?
Why is self-giving so unusual? Have you ever been impressed by others who give their time and talent to others? Have they ever asked you to join them? What happened? Did their invitation change you?
How have you influenced others to become Christ-like? Have you extended them acts of love? Have you ever asked them to join you at Church? Try to help someone this week and invite him or her closer to the Lord.
1. Share with the group or person next to you what spoke to you most in the Gospel. With this first question try to refrain from commenting on what others said. Just share what spoke to you and then move on to the next person.
2. The young Samuel needed Eli to help him recognize the voice of the Lord. Who or what has helped you to be a hearer of God’s Word?
3. In the second reading, Paul focuses on sexual promiscuity occurring in Corinth, an issue that is still a big problem in our day. Besides condemning it, how should the Church address this issue?
4. How would you respond if Jesus were to ask you, “What are you looking for?”
5. How easy or hard is it for you to introduce others to Christ or to share your faith?
6. What is Jesus saying to you in the gospel about how a Christian disciple should act?
1. Does the Church need to be pointed in the right direction periodically?
2. Who played the role of Andrew in your life?
3. Have you ever brought anyone to Jesus like Andrew did? Was it a member of your family? Is it harder to do for one’s own family?
1. What motivated the disciples of John to follow Jesus? Why didn’t John follow after the One he pointed others to?
2. In light of verses 30 and 31, how do you think John felt when his disciples left him for Jesus? In what ways are you called in humility to “decrease” so that Jesus can “increase”?
3. How do you picture Andrew and John’s first encounter with Jesus? Who was the first to speak? What tone of voice do you think he used?
4. How do you think Simon felt when Jesus changed his name to Kepha (meaning “Rock”)? What significant event did this early encounter anticipate (Matthew 16:13-19)?
5. What is your response to the Andrews of the world to “come and see” Jesus in the circumstances of your everyday life? How can you “stay with him” throughout the day?
6. Can you, like Andrew, say, “We have found the Messiah”? How or where have you found him? How can you further imitate Andrew to share the Lord?
