Memorable Moments

Homily for Wednesday of the Second Week in Christmas Season

Our memories of certain days, particularly days in which we experienced great catastrophe, are usually very definite and clear. Those of us who were living when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated can probably tell exactly what they were doing and where they were when they heard the news. Another such day would be September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center in New York was attacked by two hijacked airliners.

In today’s Gospel, John adds details that indicate his own experience of being called by Jesus. It was a life altering experience. As much as John refrains from explicitly naming himself in this narrative that he wrote, he can’t help revealing his presence. John is not simply recounting the story, but is one of the two disciples who were with John the Baptist when John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God. John’s life was changed that day at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. That was when he started following Jesus and heard him ask, “What are you looking for?” He goes on to recount the specifics of Andrew bringing his brother, Simon Peter, to meet Jesus, and that Jesus gave him a new name: Cephas, which means Peter. These details were important to John; they were essential to his living and re-living the gravity of this occasion. (Interestingly, three times he translates words that would  be unknown to his audience. Obviously, he was writing for  non-Jewish people.)

Both my mother and my father were converts to Catholicism. I vividly remember my mother telling the story of her baptism while she was a nursing student at Saint Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In a way, I envied the fact that she could remember the details of that Saturday night in the chapel of the hospital. She also included a story about how shocked the sisters were when she approached the communion rail for communion the next day at Sunday Mass.

Whether we were baptized in infancy or initiated into the church as youths or adults, there have been memorable moments that have brought us to this present moment. Perhaps they were not unlike John’s, and we can recall every detail. Perhaps they have been more subtle, and we can recall how we felt but not much else. Given God’s immense grace, there are undoubtedly more such moments awaiting us.

John’s testimony invites and encourages us to think more deeply and reflectively upon these discrete points in our journey of faith, those times where we encountered Jesus in a particularly profound and meaningful way, and how our life has changed because of him. Like John, we must then share this good news, for as it was once what brought us to Christ, so it may now bring others.