2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
January 17, 2021

My brothers and sisters in Christ,1 

We are beginning a very important week in the life of our nation, as our country prepares for the inauguration of our new President on Wednesday. 

Let’s continue praying for our great country and for our leaders and especially for our new president-elect and his family. 

This continues to be a time of uncertainty and pandemic. There are also many divisions that we need to heal in our country. So we pray also for the safety of our health care workers — as I was mentioning at the beginning of holy Mass — the ones who are suffering as a consequence of the pandemic, and our loved ones and neighbors. And we pray for peace, beginning with peace in our hearts. Tomorrow is our nation’s annual observance of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. So we remember his witness of faith and love and nonviolence. 

So we can kind of help us to realize that what the Church is bringing to our considerations today with today’s scripture readings help us to understand our vocation and that we have a duty to this land that is our home. And as we know, we serve our country best by living our faith in Jesus Christ with courage and joy. 

So as we heard in today’s passage of the Gospel, two disciples of St. John the Baptist begin to follow Jesus. And, as we heard, Jesus turns around and he asks them a question. He says to them: What are you looking for? 

And Jesus is asking them to reflect on their lives. And today, he is asking the same thing to you and to me — it is a personal question. 

What are you looking for? What is it that you want for your life? Where are you going and what are you living for? What’s important with your life?

So our Gospel today puts us at the very start of our spiritual journey, at the beginning of our walk with Jesus Christ. And this is what the Christian life is — it is, as we know, walking with Jesus. It is following him and sharing in his life. 

So as we are reflecting, our relationship with Jesus begins with this question: What are we looking for? And obviously, Jesus knows the answer. He knows we are looking for him. Every human heart is restless until we find him. Jesus knows that he is the answer to every question we hold in our hearts. 

Then in today’s passage of the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples, “Come and see!” 

And my brothers and sisters, Jesus is always calling us to follow him. Always calling us to come and see. 

In the first reading today, we heard the story of the calling of Samuel, the prophet. He was a young boy and he keeps hearing this voice. And at first, he does not know where this voice is coming from, or who it is. 

I think one of the things that we should notice and I think it’s very interesting is that Samuel is just about doing his normal daily things — daily tasks when he hears God’s voice. 

And that’s exactly the same with each one of us. God is with us and he is speaking to us when we are working, he’s speaking to us through our loved ones, the people we meet. He speaks to us through different things that happen to us during the day.

So our Lord is always calling us by name. Yes, God’s call is always personal. He knows your name and mine name, just as he knew Samuel’s name. 

And then if we follow, Samuel learns to say to the Lord: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 

And we need to learn that too, my dear brothers and sisters. This should be our basic approach to life. “Speak, Lord. Tell me: What do you want me to know? What do you want me to do?” 

It’s as simple as that, but that makes a huge difference in our lives, as we know. We should always remember that our relationship with God began at our baptism. We know that we are his sons, his daughters. 

God loves us and he wants us to be here. And God has a beautiful purpose for our lives, for you and for me. For every person. 

And then, if we understand that, it makes sense that just like the apostles, we have to ask Jesus: “Where are you staying?” 

And he will tell us: “Come and you will see!”

And then the Gospel says:

They went and saw where Jesus was staying
And they stayed with him that day

Jesus is always with us, He goes with us. We are walking with him. We are on a journey with him. He has called us to follow him. It’s a beautiful vocation, again.

So this week, my brothers and sisters, let us reflect more on our baptismal calling to follow Jesus. Let’s ask Jesus to come with us and let us make the resolution once again to walk with him and to learn from him. To listen to him and to follow him. 

Let us make a new effort to try to seek his will and to do his will, even in the little every day things that we do. Then we will be able to go out and to tell others, just like the apostles, as Andrew did. 

He first found his own brother Simon and told him: “We have found the Messiah!” Which is translated “Christ.”

This is our call as missionary disciples says to share with the people around us the good news about the life and teaching of Jesus — who he is, what he has done us by his dying and rising from the dead, and what he has promised to us if we believe in him and follow his path for our lives. 

Let us ask Mary our Blessed Mother today to help us to really live out our baptisms. May she help us to always remember, that we are walking with Jesus, that we are sharing his mission to spread the love of God. May she help us to give glory to God in everything we do. It starts with listening. Let’s ask for that grace today, especially for all of us and our families. 

And let us especially entrust our country this week to Mary our Immaculate Mother. 

1. Readings: 1 Sam. 3:3b-10, 19; Ps. 40:2, 4-7-10; 1 Cor. 6:13c-15a, 17-20; John 1:35-42.