Seeking the One Thing

​A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, January 14th, 2024:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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John
1.35-42

​John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he 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 see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated the Christ). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The disciples were seekers – a feeling I’m sure many across the ages can identify with. While this life is certainly beautiful – full of joys and triumphs – there is a certain restlessness in each of us. We are wanderers, moving from experience to experience, seeking the answer to that anxious movement in our hearts. There are many things that will fill that void, albeit temporarily. Relationships that serve our feelings, various kinds of drugs (both legal and illegal), positive and negative attention, and even the sensation we get from joining a community or singing loudly in a concert.

Not long ago, my family went to see the Taylor Swift tour movie. It was phenomenal. People were exchanging friendship bracelets. Communal chants were shouted. Music blasted at deafening volumes while the entire theatre sang at the top of their lungs. The entire experience was designed to produce a kind of euphoria. It was hard not to get wrapped up in the moment, especially after long hard years of isolation from the pandemic. But, just like every other temporary cure for our restlessness, the euphoria faded again, leaving us craving the one thing that would truly satisfy.

This experience that hinted at the divine was certainly not the divine. In the days of Jesus, there was a great man who many theorized was the longed-for Messiah, the answer to their restless desire for God’s victory in occupied Israel. This man, John the Baptist, preached and baptized in the river Jordan. He accumulated around himself many followers and spoke truth to power, even unto death. However, unlike many figures who attract popularity, John the Baptist understood his mission and that he was not the big thing, but rather one whose duty was to direct those seeking to the Messiah who was to come.

When Jesus arrived that day, John the Baptist told two of his disciples, Saint Andrew and Saint John the Evangelist, that Jesus was the Lamb of God. These men, who were seeking God, knew they had to follow. Once they found the one thing that satisfied them, they did not leave. John the Evangelist was there from the start to the very end – the one Apostle at the foot of the Cross, the first Apostle to reach the tomb after the resurrection, and, finally, the one Apostle who lived to old age, despite having found the Lord so young.

I am reminded, again and again, to not be drawn in by things that will not satisfy me. I can enjoy the good things of this earth, but I cannot make an idol of them. Jesus is the one thing that will satisfy me. The one thing not subject to my fickle passion. The one thing that will be with me from my youth to my death. Now that I have found Him, I will never leave.




Stéphanie Potter​

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