Gospel according to St.

John (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 Jesus 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.

The disciples of John follow Jesus moved by the words of John the Baptist who seeing Jesus identifies
him as the one who fulfils the promises to the chosen people: This is the lamb of God! The two young
men (Andrew and the other disciple) listen to John and follow Jesus. He as what God always do with
man turns toward them, goes to their encounter, and asks them a question of great profundity: What
are you looking for? This question appeals as something which dwells in the most profound experience of
every man and woman. Man seeks God. The young man understands in the depth of himself that this
search is the interior law of his existence. Human being seeks his path in the visible world; and through
the visible world, seeks for the invisible throughout his spiritual itinerary (St. John Paul II).
In somehow and in different levels, all of us have experienced this experience of search. The reflection
about this passage from the Gospel makes us lose to such experience and invites us to renew in vitality of
the same experience of searching. Perhaps, one of the sequels of a life of faith which separates from the
daily life is the loss of vitality. A layer of molds little by little covers the authenticity of this interior reality
which is so deep. This is something which we should not allow to happen! And that is why we listen with
openness to the question of the Lord Jesus which is also addressed tous What are you searching for?
and apply it to our concrete situation, here and now.
The search of Andrew and his co-follower takes form in the question they asked to Jesus: Where do you
live? They want to know him more. The Lord invites them to the intimateness of his home: Come and
see. This first encounter with Jesus must have been fascinating and transforming for them. Where do
you live, Lord? is a question that we should ask always to Jesus in our spiritual journey. And, just as to
the disciples, the Master tells us: Come and see.
Where do you look for Jesus? Jesus lives in his Word; He is and remains truly present in the Eucharist.
Isnt the Church the house of Jesus? Our Lord is not hidden, he doesnt make the search difficult. All
the contrary. Sometimes we make our existence complicated, we seek and seek where we never will
encounter him. We can come to think that God has gone from our life. And, however, He is there,
waiting for us, faithful in his promises. Are we not the blind and slow of heart to recognize him?

Search and encounter. Two words particularly significant which perhaps synthesize better the intense
experience of these two followers of the Lord. An intense experience which immediately they went out to
communicate what they have found. Andrew, as narrated by the Evangelist St. John, goes out quickly and
seeks for his brother Peter to whom he made the announcement: I have found the Messiah, and he takes
him to Jesus. To this, St. John Chrysostom says: Andrew, after having stayed together with Jesus (Jn
1:39) and having learned so much that he did not keep this treasure for himself. He went quickly where
his brother Simon Peter was to make him participate in the good that he has received. Consider what he
has said to his brother: we have found the Messiah (which means Christ) (Jn 1:41). Do you realize the
fruit of what has learned in such a short time?
Andre and his companion converted themselves for us as a model of apostles of the apostles. Having
encountered the Messiah, they announced him to the others which in turn become apostles. This is the
dynamic of evangelization which all baptized are called to live; it is the dynamic of the disciple of Christ
which never ends, as Pope Benedict XVI had said, for it is the way of growth in the faith which does not
end: To seek and to find Christ, never-ending source of truth and life: the word of God invites us to
continue, at the start of a new year, this path of faith does not end. For the believer, it is always an
unceasing search and new discovery, because Christ is the same yesterday, today and always, but we, the
world, the history, we are never the same, and He comes to our encounter to give us his communion and
the plenitude of the life.