Today, so many souls are looking for something….”What are looking for says the Lord to them?...sadly many are looking for “whats” instead of Who…Instead of seeking things, they should be seeking the Maker of all things—Jesus.

John 1, 35-42 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time January 18th, 2015

Last week we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Hopefully, then, we renewed the promises we made at our own baptism, to renounce satan, sin and anything that displeases the Lord; along with professing anew our faith in God, in His Catholic Church and in God’s teachings that come to us in their fullness through His Catholic Church. Renewing our baptism vows also renews our commitment to follow the Lord in thought, word and deed, and so grow in our love for Him and His Holy Church.

Like Samuel in today’s first reading, through our baptism we have been called by our Lord to be with Him, to be close to the Lord and to bring Him to others as well. But this calling demands, on our part, more and more a fuller response to the Lord. It is a response that is made in a deeper a commitment to a life in Christ and in His grace. It is a response that is made by living our lives more faithfully to God’s commandments; living a life in the body that avoids any immorality, a life that no longer belongs to us but to the Lord, for we truly have been purchased with a great price, the price of the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Himself.

Samuel was called; we too are called. But how do we more deeply follow the Lord so that He will truly be with us, so that we will be truly with Him, united to Him? How do we follow so that we may truly offer our lives to him in trusting love, so that we may be His prophets in order to bring His saving truth to the world around us; so that we may live in His Kingship, under His rule, truly living as His royal adopted sons and daughters?

First, in answering His personal call to each one of us, we discover that God’s calling can only continued to be heard by the lowly, the humble, by those who truly seek the Lord’s Will and not their own. This demands a holy desire for not just the “things” of the Lord, but for the Lord Himself. Do we truly desire the Lord…and not just things from the Lord…do we truly desire holiness, which is to become one with the Lord in love?

Second, since we do desire the Lord Himself, we try then with His help, to more attentively listen to the Lord. And so to listen to Him we spend time contemplating Him and hearing Him speak to us through His Holy Word; His Holy Word which comes to us through the Scriptures and His Holy Church who interprets the Scriptures for us so that we can hear the true voice of the Shepherd. We need to put away, on a daily basis, at least for a little while all other noises of the world and spent time before the Lord so that we can hear the Lord speaking to us in the Scriptures and in the Church’s teaching. We need to spend time with the Word, studying the Word, both in the Scriptures and in the Church’s teachings, in order to come to know Jesus who is the Word of the Father, to know Him more and so love Him more and be able share Him and love with others.

And so finally, hearing His Word in the Scriptures and in the Church’s teachings we can hear the Lord speak to our hearts. So we must spend time not only with His Holy Word, but spend time being with Him in prayer. Prayer is the breath of our soul; it is to turn our gaze to the One we Love and Who love us. In prayer we should not so much speak to the Lord but let Him speak to us…. Our attitude should be primarily one of, “Lord speak you servant is listening,” and not of, “Lord listen your servant is speaking.” In other words, “Lord Thy Will be done…not my will.”

And of course, no greater prayer is there, no more efficacious prayer is there, not better way is there for us to be with the Lord and for Him to be with us than prayer before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. To spend time with the Holy Eucharist is to literally spend time with the Word of God become flesh…in the little white host. Yes, we do this primarily at Holy Mass, but we should also come and spend time before and with Jesus at other times, especially in silence, so we can, in faith, contemplate His holy face in the Holy Eucharist and hear Him speak to us in the depths of our soul; God is truly with us in all the tabernacles of the world.

Today, so many souls are looking for something….”What are looking for says the Lord to them?...sadly many are looking for “whats” instead of Who…Instead of seeking things, they should be seeking the Maker of all things—Jesus. When they realize their hunger for the Lord, they should say to Jesus… “Jesus where are you, where are you staying…. Today, Jesus says to them and to us, “come and see”…come and see me through faith in the Holy Eucharist and there you will find me truly present with you, not just in spirit but in my Human resurrected Body, with my pierced but now beating Sacred Heart alive and pouring out upon those who come, my Precious Blood, my grace, my mercy, and my Divine love.

My dear brothers and sisters, we know where Jesus is staying, we have found the Lord who is truly with us... We have found the Messiah: Jesus Christ, who in and through the Holy Eucharist, brings us His truth and grace. But for our part, we must come to Him and truly be with Him; we must be with the Holy Eucharist, which is not a “what,” but a “Who;”…that is, Jesus with us, God in the flesh….we must believe, adore, hope and love Him truly present there and beg pardon for those who don’t believe, adore, hope and love Him there.

The Holy Eucharist is literally, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” This is why the priest, echoing the words of John the Baptist holds and the Holy Eucharist at Mass and says these very words… “Behold the Lamb of God.” The Eucharist is He Who takes away the sins of the world, by pouring out His blood anew, by giving of His body anew on the altar of Sacrifice for our salvation.” And yes we are not worthy to be in His presence, much less receive Him under our roof; that is, into bodies which are the house of our souls. But He will, if we come to him in faith, hope and love, and offer Him our hearts, He will say the Word and come into us and heals us. He will make us worthy and He will make us one with Him in an unending and eternal union of love. He will then, as He used Simon Peter, He will use us as His instruments of Love and mercy for others…He will raise us up by His power, the power of the Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Raised up by His Divine power and Love—in other words by the Holy Spirit, we will be living members of His body. Our lives in the body will be faithful to our baptismal promises, not living lives of immorality in body, but lives of holiness…we will use our bodies to adore the Lord in worship and in our daily lives, thus becoming living proclamations of the Gospel…We will live our lives in our bodies, as St. Paul says, under the kingship of Christ…and call others into that same Kingship which is to live in the freedom of the sons and daughters of the Father….to have life and have it to the full….Holy Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Mother of the Baptized…Pray for us. Amen