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Dear Members & Friends of Holy Apostles,

 

I've been thinking a lot about this week's Gospel lesson in John. It's the one where Philip goes off to tell his friend Nathaniel that he's found the one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth. Now Nathaniel is a bit of a skeptic with an oh-yeah-prove-it-to-me attitude, but Philip is not discouraged or deterred. He simply says, "OK, come and see."

 

He doesn't argue, cajole, or try to persuade Nathaniel into believing him. He merely invites him to come and see for himself. I'm struck by the faith and confidence and elegance of such a reply. What would it be like to be so certain that if someone is invited to come and see and experience God, that they will come to know the reality of his love, grace, and mercy? How different would our attempts at evangelism look if all we did was invite people to come and see Truth for themselves? How different would we walk and talk and be if we were confident that God would joyfully reveal God's self to all those who are questioning and seeking?

 

Epiphany is a time of revelation, a time when God's light shines in the darkness to show us who S/He is. It is a time not only to behold this light but to be changed by it and reflect it back. I hope that this time of revelation and showing will transform us all into such people of faith that we live our lives with that elegant confidence that invites all those around us to come and see.

Suzanne