Discipleship is Risky Business

Ordinary Time is what we casually left behind in order to enter the thrill of Advent and Christmas. Now it returns, and usually no one complains. Even thrills wear out their welcome. The return to the ordinary lets us settle into the new year before the rigors of Lent begin next month.

Alert readers may note that we begin Ordinary Time not with the first, but the Second Sunday. That's not because The Catholic Key didn't publish last week. It's because the feast of today's publication date, the Baptism of the Lord, serves a double function. It ends the Christmas season, and it begins Ordinary Time. If you attend Mass on Monday, Jan. 10, this year, you'll see us squirrel away the purple vestments and haul out the green.

Since this is year B of the lectionary cycle, and since we're leaving Christmas behind, you would expect to get down to business with Mark's gospel. Ordinary Time will guide us through a semi-continuous reading of Mark's entire gospel all year long. However, John wrote today's text. Just as you drop hints to late-night guests who hate to leave your New Year' s party, so the liturgy seems to pry off the other evangelists one by one from their clutch on the Sunday gospel before Mark returns to the scene next week. This week we'll hear from John one last time.

The call of Andrew and Peter to follow Jesus recounts one part of John's vocation narrative. John depicts the call to discipleship as a nearly reckless act. No job descriptions. No resumes. No references. No interviews. In the opening few chapters of John's gospel, Jesus' beckoning voice carelessly caroms off Judeans, Galileans, and even Samaritans -- those expletive-deleted good-for-nothings whom everyone else made sport of.

Notice how quickly this passage immerses us into the titles of Jesus: Lamb of God, Rabbi, Messiah. Through them, John's first chapter helps us mediate on who this Jesus is. John the Baptist returns to fulfill his role as witness by proclaiming Jesus as God's Passover lamb, and by nudging two of his own disciples toward him.

The conversation that ensues still lures prospective disciples to Jesus. "What are you looking for?" "Where are you staying?" "Come and see." Coy, seductive, and intimate, this invitation still speaks to the heart of all who want to know Jesus.

Be alert to all the double meanings here in words like "look," "stay," "come" and "see." We're not flipping through a Fodor's guide to cheap hotels. People who look are searching for Christ. People who come are disciples. People who see have faith. And where does Jesus stay? John establishes Jesus as God's presence among us. Remember? "The word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1: 14). Those who discover where Jesus lives have found deep faith in him.

This passage earned St. Andrew the Greek title the "Protoclete," since he was the first apostle Jesus called. According to John, bringing Peter on board was Andrew's idea. Andrew introduces him by calling Jesus the Messiah. Already in chapter one, after one brief conversation with Jesus, Andrew is convinced of who he is.

When Jesus meets Simon, he boldly changes his name. "Cephas" (pronounced SEE-fus) comes from the Aramaic word "kepha", which John translates as "petros" ("rock") in Greek. As a name, it loosely means "Rocky" in English. (The makers of the original Rocky movie showed an image of Peter over the opening credits.) Cephas appears again in 1 Cor 1:12, 34:22, 9:5, 15:5, and in Galatians 1:18, 2:9, 2:11, and 2:14. No mystery here; it's Peter.

Your reflection on this text may invite you to recall what makes you respond to Jesus' invitation to follow. His personality? His promise? Peer pressure?

Think, too, about other charismatic leaders; for example, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. What enables them to attract followers? What attracts people to your parish community? How are you the body of Christ, as you see Christ in today's gospel?

Some religious organizations sponsor vocation discernment programs called "Come and See" weekends. What qualities do you like to see in your religious leaders?

[This article first appeared in The Catholic Key, January 9, 1994, p. 15.]