In many cases we know well what we are fleeing from but not what we are in search of

The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error. – Fr. Thomas Merton (Trappist monk)

(Gospel Text: Jn 1:35-42)

John was standing with two of his disciples,

and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,

“Behold, the Lamb of God.”

The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

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?”

He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying,

and they stayed with him that day.

It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,

was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.

He first found his own brother Simon and told him,

“We have found the Messiah,” which is translated Christ.

Then he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said,

“You are Simon the son of John;

you will be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.

What are you looking for?

It’s a question the Lord wants to ask all of us. It’s also a question he can help us answer in the best way possible. By showing us who he is, he gradually unveils our own deepest longings and desires. That’s because we belong to him. We are created in his own image and likeness, and we find all our true answers in him and in the desires of his heart.

So what are you really looking for?

Quiet your mind and sit in His presence before the Blessed Sacrament, in the silence Christ will show you who he is—and who you really are.

“Come and see “(Jn 1:39) Jesus said to the two disciples in today’s gospel passage. He invited them to remain, to see, to meditate. Two thousand years later, He does the same for us.

“Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing.”

“We must not rely too much upon ourselves, for grace and understanding are often lacking in us. We have but little inborn light, and this we quickly lose through negligence. Often we are not aware that we are so blind in heart. Meanwhile we do wrong, and then do worse in excusing it.”  - Thomas à Kempis

(Gospel text: 1 Jn 2:29–3:61)

If you consider that God is righteous,

you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness

is begotten by him.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us

that we may be called the children of God.

Yet so we are.

The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now;

what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,

as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness,

for sin is lawlessness.

You know that he was revealed to take away sins,

and in him there is no sin.

No one who remains in him sins;

no one who sins has seen him or known him.

Jesus was rarely recognized from His birth to His death and resurrection. Even Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24-13-35) did not recognize the risen Christ.

Do we recognize Christ in the here and now?

The secret to this kind of sight lies in these words from the book of Matthew: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see the face of God”( Mt 5:8).

Mother Teresa always remembered these words of Jesus. She said that she saw the face of Jesus in the face of each person she helped. She asked the whole world to look for Jesus' face there, too.

This is a beautiful Christian ideal to have before us, that Jesus is present in my neighbor. Jesus is in the person next to me, the person behind me, in front of me, in the person with whom I live and work.

Thinking like this means thinking in a new way, putting on a new mind, letting our brains be washed with the Gospel of Christ. And as Mother Teresa said, it is only through prayer and the Sacraments that we will receive the grace to see others with this new mindset, which is the very mind of Christ.

When we put on this new mind, the mind of Jesus, then his kingdom has come into our world.

Mother Teresa also said, “If now we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten how to see God in one another”. Think about that for a minute or two.

Maybe it is time for all of us to get our eyes checked out by the “divine physician” (Mk 2:17), so then we can truly see.

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”  - C.S. Lewis

 (Gospel Text: Jn 1:19-28)

This is the testimony of John.

When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him

to ask him, “Who are you?”

He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,

“I am not the Christ.”

So they asked him,

“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”

And he said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

So they said to him,

“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?

What do you have to say for yourself?”

He said:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’

as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Some Pharisees were also sent.

They asked him,

“Why then do you baptize

if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”

John answered them,

“I baptize with water;

but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,

the one who is coming after me,

whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,

where John was baptizing.

We begin this new year with the question: "Who are you?" (Jn 1:19).

This is a good question. How can we be what the Lord wants us to be this year unless we know who we are? However, the question of our identity is most difficult. The first voice says we are God's children (see Mt 3:17; Jn 1:12; 1 Jn 3:2). Another voice says we are merely human, in fact, just sophisticated animals. If we accept this, we can "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" (see Wis 2:6ff; 1 Cor 15:32). Although this second voice puts us down and degrades us, we feel like believing it and leading a self-indulgent life.

To answer the question, "Who are you?", we must answer the questions: "Who are the voices in my life?" and "Who is the liar?" (1 Jn 2:22).

Here is a hint, the first voice is the Truth (Jn 14:6).

Know yourself. Know God.

Our mistake is that we want God to send a renewal on our terms

"For a son of God each day should be an opportunity for renewal, knowing for sure that with the help of grace he will reach the end of the road, which is Love.” - St Josemaria Escriva 

(Scripture Text: Gal 4:4-7)

Brothers and sisters:

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,

born of a woman, born under the law,

to ransom those under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

As proof that you are sons,

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

crying out, “Abba, Father!”

So you are no longer a slave but a son,

and if a son then also an heir, through God.

Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

There is a beautiful hymn from the early Church that Paul quotes in his letter to the Philippians: Jesus, being in the form of God, did not cling to his being equal to God...[2:6]. Perhaps paradoxically we all catch ourselves at times reversing the attitude reflected in that hymn. We rather cling to the notion that we are not equal to God, so as to excuse ourselves from having more Christ-like attitudes: “Fine for Jesus, he was the Son of God; Fine for Mary, she was the Mother of God; but I am just a 'pedestrian', I cannot be held to such high standards”.

It is all too obvious that none of us can be Mother of God and that none of us will be taken up to heaven without experiencing corruption. But Mary's greatness does not lie primarily in what she did, but rather in what she allowed God to do with and in her, in her total availability to God's desire for her.

It is Mary’s inner attitude that is the example for us.

What is truly great in Mary is she remained always available to what God was asking of her. Did she understand everything that was happening? The answer is a clear and emphatic no. The Church sets Mary before us today because we, like her, need faith to journey into the unknown and her faith can inspire us.

Scripture tells us that Mary reflected in her heart about the injustices she, Joseph, and her Child were required to endure (Lk 2:19). Such reflection can sometimes lead people to self-pity, anger toward God, or bitterness. Mary however embraced her situation with humility and trust.

Whatever this year may bring, let us reflect on the words of Our Blessed Mother in the book of John, "Do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).

By faith, at the side of Mary, look to Jesus, our only Hope and the only Hope we need.