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"You are quite willing to have a cross, but you want to have the choice."
- St. Francis de Sales [16th-17th C.], Letters to Madame Chantal - (But of course! So what is the cross you are avoiding these days?) |
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1 1 Jn 3:7-10; Ps 98:1, 7-8, 9 Jn
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 he 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. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“When Jesus turned around and noticed them following Him, He asked
them, ‘What are you looking for?’ ” —John 1:38 Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptizer followed Jesus from a distance. Likewise, today there are many long-distance followers of Jesus. Are you close to the Lord? Or are your prayers “smoke signals”? Jesus has become a man. He even gives Himself
to us in the Eucharist to be closer than close to us. He challenges us to look into our hearts and ask ourselves what we are looking for (Jn 1:38). Jesus, our Rabbi and Teacher (see Jn 1:38), will show us which of these desires are distancing us from Him. All we have to do is give ourselves the chance to hear the truth about our hearts from the Truth Himself (see Jn 2:25; 14:6). We must stay with Jesus for an extended time. We must not run away when He speaks of changing what we’re looking for,
repenting of our sins, and taking up the cross daily (see Lk 9:23). Jesus wants to give us a real “make-over,” to change our names (see Jn 1:42), our looks, and what we’re looking for. Jesus wants to draw us close to Himself. This Christmas and this new year, stay close to Jesus. Prayer: Father, You
drew close to me in the Incarnation of Your Son. May I draw close to You (Jas 4:8). Promise: “It was to destroy the devil’s works that the Son of God revealed Himself.” —1 Jn 3:8 Presentation Ministries
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What is Christian Love? by Philip St. Romain (all rights reserved) Adapted from Freedom from Codependency: A Christian Response - Dysfunctional Beliefs About Love -
part 3 of 5 • We should never judge others. Codependents distort the Christian warning about judging others to mean we should not even confront unhealthy behavior. Codependents make no distinction between person and behavior; to confront someone’s behavior is to say that the person is bad. They neglect to challenge harmful and inappropriate
behavior, further enabling irresponsibility. • We should be perfect as God is perfect. Adult children from dysfunctional families and codependents understand this teaching to mean we should not make mistakes. Because codependency is rooted in the experience of conditional love, the attempt to be perfect is an effort to obtain love through perfect
works. It is not a sin to make mistakes; it is human to make mistakes. Sin is a willfui neglect of what is good, or a willful consent to do what is bad. Often our mistakes concern not willfulness or being good and bad but merely human weaknesses and limitations. It is harmful to judge yourself as bad because you make mistakes. The perfection Jesus asks for is that we do our best, then leave the rest in God’s hands. Paperback book, PDF eBook, Kindle, ePub
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