January 5, 2023

John 1:43-51

Each one of us has a unique story to tell about God’s call. God calls us in unique and different ways. Even the apostles of Jesus experienced different modes of calling distinct from one another; Andrew was led to him through the preaching of John the Baptist; then Andrew shared his story with Peter who likewise followed Jesus. Then Philip was directly called by Jesus with a simple word of invitation “Follow me”, he left everything and promptly followed him. Philip finds Nathaniel (Bartholomew) and he shares his experience and knowledge about Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures to which Nathaniel makes a negative statement about being from Nazareth. Then Philip invites Nathaniel, “Come and see”.

Jesus calls and invites us to “follow him”. He invites us distinctly and in a unique way. We must therefore be prepared for a journey that is ours personally and to keep in mind that we have Jesus with us in our journey. And in following Jesus, while journeying with him, let us also invite others to come to him and be his followers. When people ask us about Jesus, let us also in return invite them to “Come and see”! May they also see in us, in our words and actions, the Jesus whom we follow so that they too may follow him. As we go through the rest of this 2023 let us always remind ourselves of Jesus’ presence in our life. Amen.

Reflection

Do our words and actions reflect Jesus so that those who see and experience us experience Jesus through us?

Rev. Fr. Miguel M. Garcia, SSS