Gospel (Jn 1,35-42) - At that time John was with two of his disciples and, fixing his gaze on Jesus as he passed by, said: "Behold the lamb of God!". And his two disciples, hearing him speak thus, followed Jesus. Jesus then turned and, observing that they were following him, said to them: "What are you looking for?". They answered him: "Rabbi - which, translated, means teacher - where do you live?". He said to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day; it was around four in the afternoon. One of the two who had heard John's words and followed him was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter. He met his brother Simon first and said to him: «We have found the Messiah» – which translates as Christ – and led him to Jesus. Fixing his gaze on him, Jesus said: «You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Cephas" – which means Peter.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

John the Baptist was on the banks of the Jordan in the place where the people of Israel had entered the promised land, because the Messiah would appear there when he came. The evangelist writes that he "fixed his gaze" on that man and recognized him. And he points it out to the others: "Here is the lamb of God." He uses a term dear above all to the prophet Isaiah who indicates the Messiah as a lamb "who bears the sins of the world" (Is 53.7). that is, he is the one who frees the people from slavery by placing everyone's sin on his shoulders and carrying it to the altar of sacrifice. He is the true Passover lamb.
These words of the Baptist do not fall on deaf ears. Two of his disciples, Andrew and John, listen to them and understand their profound meaning, so much so that they leave the Baptist and begin to follow that man. In this scene, as in the following, the evangelist insists on using the verb "to see". John seems to want to organize the three meetings that punctuate the Gospel passage around the action of seeing. It is a peculiarity of Giovanni himself. If at the beginning the evangelist notes that the Baptist "fixes his gaze" (like an attentive observation) on Jesus, now it is Jesus who "observes" the two who follow him (it is a scrutinizing gaze) and invites them to go and "see". The two "went and saw." Finally, Jesus "fixes his gaze" on Simon and changes his name. That of the Lord is an intense "seeing", a looking that goes deep, which is attentive to the questions of those in front of him, a seeing aimed at establishing direct, profound, continuous relationships: "Come and you will see", and they "went and they saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day." The strength of John's symbolic language invites us to grasp the importance of "seeing". It is a concrete and profound, spiritual seeing. In this sense the story narrated is paradigmatic: Christian brotherhood is a story that begins on the road with a meeting of glances that lead to the invitation to follow and be with Jesus. It is a story that must be repeated today for the many who seek a teacher to listen to and a house to live in. How many have neither one nor the other! They are crowds in our cities, increasingly at the mercy of a general disorientation. There is a need for company for them. There is a need for this evangelical page to return to illuminate these days. Many are waiting for someone to look at them, who knows how to understand their questions, just as Jesus did with Andrew and John ("What are you looking for?") and invite them by telling them: "Come and see". That meeting marked the lives of Andrea and Giovanni. They no longer forgot him, so much so that the evangelist also notes the time: «That day they remained with him; it was four in the afternoon." We do not know the contents of that meeting. What is certain is that from then on they became disciples of Jesus. From that meeting a new story began, for them, but also for others, for many others. And it began as it had for them. The two, leaving Jesus, went to Simon: "We have found the Messiah", they told him and took him to Jesus. And Jesus, "fixing his gaze" on Simon - his gaze once again - changed his heart and life: «You will be called Cephas», that is, stone.