2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - 17th January 2021
John 1: 35-42 (Read the Gospel together)
As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour. One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock
Thoughts on the Gospel
When John saw Jesus, he and the disciples followed him. Usually we don’t see someone, leave our homes, and follow them. In today's Gospel reading, Jesus’ apostles heard and saw something that we can’t understand – but it turned out to be a really good thing! In hindsight, their decision to follow Jesus was the right thing to do. The disciples already knew about Jesus beforehand because they heard about him. When they actually saw him, and when John the Baptist called out to Jesus as 'the lamb of God', they followed him. It could be similar to when you really like and admire a person that is special to you. Given the opportunity, you too might want to spend some time with them to get to know them better.
Do you remember when and why you decided to follow Jesus? For many of you, you follow Jesus because your parents share God’s call with you. Remember that we learned a few weeks ago that our families are a gift from God. God uses them to bring love to you! And God calls YOU to bring his love to others.
We are all called by God to do his work.
When God calls us, do we hear? When we hear, do we answer? Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves. We heard about the way that God called Samuel (in the First Reading) to do his work and the way that Samuel answered. We heard about the way that Jesus called his first disciples and the way that they answered. Our Responsorial psalm today is, “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”
Activities to do at home:
*Recognise God’s call!
Think about times when you had to make a decision and you did the right thing. Was God speaking to you? God does speak to us all the time when we call on him so perhaps, take some time to Listen for his call.
*Answer God’s call!
When God does call you - answer him! Perhaps think of a time that this has happened to you. How did it make you feel? When you do a good deed, you are answering God's call.
*Love God’s people!
You are answering God’s call in a very special way when you show Love to those around you. So this week, try to take extra time for others that are around you, your family and friends. Perhaps, give up some of your device time and do something with a sibling, parent, family friend - this is how you try to answer God.
Thank You