4 January 2025 -- Saturday
HOMILY
This dialogue between Jesus and His disciples, as recorded by John several decades later, is very poignant in its simplicity. At first, the disciples are content to follow Jesus. Then He asks them, "What are you looking for?" Instead of answering this question, they simply ask, ‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ Which means, ‘We are not looking for anything or anyone. What we were looking for, we have found.’ -- He said to them, ‘ Come and see . And at this point, there is a very moving line in John's account: ‘It was about four o'clock in the afternoon’.
It's like one of those precious memories in which we have details of the context in which we met, for example, a dear friend, for the first time... Just as an old couple talking about their first meeting, many years later, say: ‘It was in that place, in that restaurant, on that street corner, at four o'clock in the afternoon!’
Then, in the same way that John sent them to the Messiah, these disciples wanted to share with others what they had found. Andrew went looking for his brother, Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ And Jesus said to Simon, ‘You are Simon, son of John; your name will be Peter’.
When Pope Paul VI visited Jerusalem in January 1964 and met Patriarch Athenagoras, the latter presented him with an icon made especially for him, showing the two brothers Andrew and Peter embracing, as a souvenir of his visit. As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins soon, let us pray that we will always be attentive to God's voice in our lives. And, so that we don't miss it, let's develop the ability to always respond ‘Here I am’ when someone asks for our help. Let us also pray for the grace to lead our brothers and sisters to Christ.
Armand Veilleux