History's great philosophers and religious leaders have given various answers to humanity's central question: What is the meaning of life?  However, only Jesus Christ has given us the complete answer, and he gives it in today's Gospel passage.

He is about thirty years old, and the time has come for him to leave behind his simple life as a carpenter in Nazareth and take up his public ministry of preaching to the crowds and training his twelve apostles.  And where does he go to find those apostles? To John the Baptist, who had been preparing his own disciples to recognize and welcome the Messiah.  So, as Jesus walks along the bank of the River Jordan, John the Baptist points at him and tells his two disciples that he is the One, the Lamb of God, the Messiah.  John and Andrew can barely believe their ears; they decide to check out this new Rabbi.

Jesus hears them approaching, turns around, looks them in the eye, and asks: "What are you looking for?"  It's the key question.  In other words, where are you searching for meaning in your life?  

Struck by the simplicity and warmth of Jesus' greeting, and maybe surprised by the question, they just say, "Teacher, where are you staying?"  Maybe without realizing it, they have given the perfect answer: "Jesus, we are looking for you; we want to stay with you."

A smile spreads over Jesus' face, and he says to them, "Come, and you will see."  He invites them to walk with him, to follow him, to be his companions - and that is Christ's answer to the question of life's meaning.

The meaning of life is not a thing to be possessed, or an abstract doctrine to be understood.  The meaning of life is a relationship to be lived out: it is a personal friendship with Jesus Christ.

This weekend we are welcoming two people who have heard Jesus asking them, “What are you looking for?” and they have accepted Jesus’ invitation to “Come, and you will see” as we welcome one of them as he becomes a candidate for being fully received into the Catholic Church, and the other as she becomes a Catechumens.

Austin grew up in Texas and first encountered Jesus Christ in the Methodist Church.  As he became a young man he relocated to New Jersey for work and for further studies.  Right after high school, like so many of us who think we are too busy for church, Austin’s relationship with Jesus may have cooled some.  But then he met a lovely young woman, a woman of strong faith.  As their relationship developed, he started to go to Mass with her here at Resurrection.  This has rekindled his relationship with Christ Jesus, and now he is journeying to enter fully into the Catholic Church.

Natalie is a young mother.  As a child, she attended church with her mother and brother, but again, in high school her practice of the faith became lukewarm.  Then she had a baby, and the miracle of birth reawakened her sense of awe in the divine working in her and her son’s life.  As she was preparing to have her son baptized, she made a shocking discovery —she herself was never baptized.  She and her mother are not quite sure how that happened, but as Natalie’s spirituality has deepened through the birth of her son, she knows that she wants to say yes to Jesus, and is eagerly looking forward to receiving all the Sacraments Of Initiation this Easter.

If the meaning of life is to be found in friendship with Christ, then our highest priority in life should be to constantly deepen that friendship.  There are three essential ways to do this.

First, we have to gradually develop a mature life of prayer.  Prayer involves saying prayers and asking for good things from God.  However, it also involves reading and meditating on the Bible, and filling our hearts with gratitude for God's many gifts.

Second, we have to build our lives around the sacraments.  When John the Baptist called Jesus the "Lamb of God," he was alluding to the Old Testament lamb sacrificed right before the Exodus from Egypt.  The blood of that lamb saved the Israelites from slavery.  In New Testament times, that prophetic image is fulfilled in the Eucharist - the body and blood of the real sacrificial lamb, Christ himself, who saves us from sin.  Adoring the Blessed Sacrament, receiving Holy Communion, and opening our hearts to God in confession, anointing of the sick, and the other sacraments draws us deeper into that mystery of salvation by linking our lives more intimately with Christ's.

Third, to deepen our friendship with Christ we have to make God's will our first concern.  One key aspect of friendship is wanting and liking the same things.  Friendship with Christ, then, means wanting and working for whatever Christ wants and works for.  Today's Psalm puts it beautifully: "Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will... To do your will, O my God, is my delight."  And what does God's will include? The Ten Commandments, first of all, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Prayer, sacraments, and obedience to Christ's plan: these are the foundation stones of a meaningful life, a life anchored in heaven, where our friendship with Christ will reach its everlasting fulfillment.