Today's gospel comes from John chapter 1 verses 35 to 42. The idea in today's gospel that strikes me is curiosity. And the virtue in today's gospel that strikes me is curiosity. These disciples of John, they go curiously following Jesus. I think in our culture, we overvalue understanding and we undervalue mystery. And when we overvalue understanding, we very often give up or surrender or quit on our curiosity. And curiosity can be a very, very holy thing. Jesus said to them, "What do you seek?" And of course, it wasn't a what, it was a who.

They said, "Where are you staying?" They didn't even know what to say to him at first, right? "Where are you staying?" And Jesus could have said, "Wow, I'm staying at that house three doors down on the left," and that would have given them understanding. But it also would have maybe dulled their curiosity. So, Jesus doesn't tell them what he's saying.

He says, "Come and see." He stokes the curiosity. He stokes the curiosity. And the invitation today is to stoke the curiosity. I think sometimes we're so fixed on understanding stuff that we think understanding is the prize. Understanding isn't the prize. Understanding is like the booby prize. The real prize is experiencing God, experiencing God's grace, experiencing the gospel. And very often that means immersing ourselves in mysteries that cannot be understood or that can only be partially understood. So today, stoke your holy curiosity, stoke your childlike curiosity. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.