“What do you want?” The first words of Jesus in John’s Gospel. These words are also sometimes translated as what are you looking for?
These are apt questions at the start of a new year. Many people intentionally make New Year's resolutions, but many don’t. What I think we all do, though, is to wonder about the year ahead.
We wonder what is to come and what to expect, and in doing so, we think about what we want or what we are looking for; what is our life about? How many people can answer these questions honestly and confidently?
When needing information or directions, we can quickly search for the answers using our smartphones, digital devices and the like. We need to know what we are looking for, though, or we can get caught up in scrolling
through endless data. Searching and seeking is an age-old occurrence that, I believe, is part and parcel of our humanness. We are seekers. We seek when we read God’s word, attend Mass, and in our everyday conversations and lives.
The disciples were seekers. Jesus pointedly asks them what they are looking for, inviting them to consider their intentions, purpose and direction in life. Until now, they had been following John the Baptist,
so they must have had some idea of what they were looking for. A change from how they were living? Adventure? Finding themselves? The Messiah? We are not told, but perhaps they were looking for the same things that many of us are looking for today: identity, healing, purpose, and meaning.
Perhaps this text invites us to consider that our purpose is to seek a relationship with God. How will you do this today?
Reflections by Gillian Hugo
