The readings are here.

I’ve worked in churches for almost 30 years. I have stood at the back of a thousand Masses and looked out over a thousand crowds; small, large, young, older, in English or a host of other languages. But one Mass stands out in my mind. One of the parishes where I worked hosted a Mass for people who had gone on Cursillo- do you know about Cursillo? It’s a retreat where people come to be introduced and exposed to Jesus, and they come away really renewed. I attended so long ago that I can’t remember when; maybe…1998?

I worked with a pastor who, after 30 years as a priest, was invited to go on this retreat, and when he came back, he confided in us: “I’ve had faith my whole life—I love God and I love this Church—but I don’t know that I ever really knew Jesus before! I have met Jesus, and everything is different!”

Anyway, one night we hosted a Mass for people who had gone on this retreat. And like I said, I’ve observed tons of Catholic Masses, but this one really struck me because in this giant church that seated 600, the hundred or so Mass-goers, Cursillistas they’re called, they were crammed into the front rows of that church. It was clear that these people wanted to be as close to Jesus, physically, as they could be. They wanted to be near the table, and near each other.

It struck me that these people had been changed by meeting Jesus, just as my pastor had been. Their experience of the Mass was changed, their experience of each other had even changed. That’s what happens when we encounter Jesus. We are changed, and the change is evident, and we can’t help but walk a bit differently, pray a bit differently, worship differently, even treat one another differently. When we’ve met Jesus in this beautiful, personal way, we want to tell the world; we actually want to be different, and for the world to see the difference in us.

Which brings us to our readings today. We drop into the middle of two stories already in progress. In today’s gospel, John and his disciples have been traveling around baptizing, and somewhere north of them, Jesus and his disciples have been traveling around and baptizing too. So John’s followers want John to explain what’s going on. They say, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”

They are asking if there’s competition going on. Is it okay with John that Jesus has embarked on his own ministry, and is starting to draw bigger crowds than John?

And just before this reading in the Gospel, John has said to his followers, look- my whole job has been to introduce the world to the person of Jesus. My mission in life is not to be glorified, because the only way I am truly glorified is for everyone to know Jesus in the beautiful, personal way that I do. If people are following him now, I’m content; I’m happy.

Jumping into the story in the book of Acts, we find an example of other people who have met Jesus and want the world to know, even though it puts them in danger. They’re being confronted by the Sanhedrin, the very same body of leaders who had condemned Jesus. Just now, the disciples have been arrested for preaching, have miraculously been freed from prison by an angel, and have gone right back to preaching about Jesus. When they’re questioned, they say to the high priests, look- we are witnesses. God’s message in Jesus is true, and we’ve seen it- we know it now- and there’s no going back. We have been changed.

This is the kind of relationship that you and I are invited into every day, in every moment- a relationship that will change us; will make us want to crowd around the Table of the Lord; will make us want to be with each other, and will make us love each other in new ways. This kind of relationship will make us more humble, but also more brave. Meeting Jesus changes everything.

We’re so blessed to be invited back to this table twice a week; to be able to gather with our community and receive Christ in the Eucharist, and if we put our hearts into it, if we accept the invitation to a beautiful, personal friendship with Jesus, our neighbors will see us differently, and we in turn will see the world differently.

So in the next moments of silence, let’s consider John’s and the apostles’ invitation to pursue a relationship like that with Jesus; let’s get ready for God to make this happen in our lives, to make us the kind of people who bless the LORD at all times; his praise ever in our mouths.

Thanks for reading. You know what would be so cool? If you’d click on that heart, or share this with someone, or something along those lines. It really would help a gal out (me)!