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Manila Bulletin

Opinion

Come and see

Opinion

Come and see

By Manila Bulletin

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gospel • John 1:43-51

John’s Gospel is a series of marturía or “witnessing” to Jesus.

When John the Baptist witnesses to Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” his two disciples leave him to follow Jesus.

After Jesus finds Philip and calls him to follow him, Philip in turn finds Nathanael and tells him about Jesus.

Nathanael does not share Philip’s enthusiasm but agrees to “come and see” Jesus. Nathanael is then struck by Jesus’ revelation about him.

Jesus calls him a true Israel with no duplicity, referring to the patriarch Jacob who was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gn 32:29) and a man of duplicity (Gn 27:35-36).

For World Communications Day 2021, Pope Francis chose as theme “Come and See.” This theme, he says, recalls the Gospel account of the first disciples’ initial encounter with Jesus, who invited them to “come and see,” to enter into relationship with him.

Later on, Philip invited his friend Nathanael to come and see the Messiah whom he has found.

Pope Francis explains that is how the Christian faith begins, and how it is communicated: as a direct knowledge, born of experience, and not of hearsay.

In order to know, we need to encounter, to let the person in front of us speak, to let his or her testimony reach us. We nurture our Christian vocation by maintaining our contact with the Lord, by constantly “coming and seeing” him in the sacraments, listening to his words in Sacred Scriptures, and seeing and recognizing him in the faces of people we meet today.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

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REFLECTIONS 365 Days with the Lord

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