Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” // John 1:38-39

I paused for an instant, my thumb hovering over the screen time warning on my phone. A hundred thoughts and justifications raced through my mind before I finally shifted my finger with great effort to close the app instead of ignoring the limit. Instantly, my mind and body exhaled with relief.

What were you looking for? The Lord nudged my heart with the question. What did you really want?

To escape myself, I answered honestly. I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but I knew what I was running from: discomfort, demands, guilt . . . and most of all, fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of not being needed. Fear of not being loved.

Well that escalated quickly, I thought wryly. Lord, what’s Your answer to my desire to escape?

I’m right here, He whispered into my heart, loving you. Waiting to remind you of who you are to Me.

With renewed conviction I picked up my Bible and followed the Lord into His Holy Word. The peace of His truth flooded me, far better than the temporary relief of escape.

When Jesus asked the disciples what they were looking for, they didn’t quite know how to answer. Instead they replied, “Where are you staying?”

With a simple invitation, Jesus showed rather than told them. “Follow Me,” He said, so that they’d know exactly where to find Him that day and the next—and where to lead others to Him, too.

Christ’s question and invitation extend to you, too. What are you looking for?

Like the disciples, we’re often unsure how to answer—too caught up in a pattern of avoiding, hiding, and escaping. Yet the Lord knows what we can’t articulate: in every circumstance, we’re looking for real love, and we can only find it fully in Him.

In response to our uncertainty, He shows us where we can always find Him: in the Eucharist, in Holy Scripture, in the healing Sacrament of Confession, waiting to fulfill.

Today, probe beneath the surface of your desires. What are you really looking for? Christ is waiting to provide it and ready to show you just where to find Him.