Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Jesus is full of grace and truth. Jesus shares his grace ad truth with us humans. Our passage today concerns our reaction to this grace and truth.
John the Baptist truthfully points out Jesus to his disciples. His disciples follow Jesus and asks where he stays. They spend the day with Jesus and passed on what they have learned to friend and family. Andrew bought his brother Peter to Jesus. Philip, a friend of Andrew and Pewter, introduces Nathanael to Jesus. John’s treatment of the first disciples emphasizes their belief and acceptance of Jesus as Messiah.
John is careful to translate Hebrew words into the people’s language. Rabbi means teacher; Messiah means Christ; Cephas means Peter. What does disciple mean? Disciple means one who follows another, such as you and I who have answered the call of Jesus to follow him.
We, the disciples, are called to live out our call to have faith and persevere in following Christ. We are the disciples of Christ in this twenty-first century. Where we go, Christ goes; what we do, Christ does, Conversely, what we fail to do, in a sense, Christ fails to do. When we are faithful, we allow God to reveal Christ’s fidelity to others; we spread the good news of Christ.
The first chapter of John’s gospel introduces us to God’s faithfulness and truthfulness, through grace, revealed by Christ to the world. His introduction challenges us to continue this same revelation in our time. Go and do likewise.