June
Trinity II, additional
John
1:43-51
The next
day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow
me!"
Philip was
from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said
to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets
wrote. It is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."
Then
Nathanael said to him, "Can good come out of Nazareth?"
Philip said
to him, "Come and see."
When Jesus
saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "He has reached the stage
of an Israelite in whom there is no untruth."
And Jesus
replied, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I
saw you."
Then
Nathanael said, "Master, you are the Son of God; you are the spiritual
leader of Israel."
And Jesus
answered, "Because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree, have you
found confidence in me? You will experience greater things than this." And
he said to him, "Yes, I say to you all: You will see heaven opened, and
the angels of God ascending and descending above the Son of Man."
3rd Trinity II
June 13, 2021
John 1:43-51
Out of all the facts, all the things we have experienced,
all the things we know, our souls construct a coherent story that makes sense
to us. For Nathaniel, in this gospel reading, the One whom they were awaiting
wasn't expected to come from Nazareth. It didn't fit with the narrative. Not
until Nathaniel experienced Christ Jesus himself, not until Jesus supplied
additional knowledge and facts, could Nathaniel expand and change the whole
narrative. His encounter with Christ changed not only his view of the Messiah
but also changed the subsequent storyline of his own life.
In our lives, too, we have built up stories, both
individually and culturally. As new experiences arrive, the stories through
which we make sense of the world need to be constantly revised and expanded. We
need to be open to incorporating new events and facts, especially when they are
life-changing.
At the center of this gospel reading is an invitation:
Come and see. Come—approach the One you are hoping for. See for yourself. Perceive
Him, listen to Him, converse with Him.
Today the invitation still goes out: come and see for yourself. Converse with Him—in your own personal encounters, in the gospels, in the narrative of the Act of Consecration. Perceive Him in the changing life and color of nature and the seasonal prayers. We can hear His invitation in the words of Hafiz:
…our Beloved,
Tissot
… eternally says,
"Yes, dear ones, come this way,
Come this way toward Me and Love!"*
* Hafiz, in I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz,
by Daniel Ladinsky
