COME AND SEE

I would like to share once again part of my contemplation during my retreat this year in Rome. Again, I wrote this very spontaneously, so ideas are a bit scattered. Hope you like it. John 1:35-51 COME AND SEE The letter I received from our vocation director in 1990, as a response to my inquiry to the Comboni Missionaries was the same in the gospel today “Come and See”. It was a way to enter the postulancy. I see that this is also a program of Jesus in this text. He invited them to "come and see", and then to become his disciples. My first impression is that, Jesus is like a Magnet. He attracted people to follow him and to desire for His presence. Jesus had no fixed housing, He was homeless, He was like a nomad. But he had characteristics opposite to the other religious leaders. I feel that this is the rason why He was attractive to people- He was very radical. I also feel the eagerness of John the Baptist's two disciples- this man Jesus is so simple and deep in His words. He is different! Come and see means to approach Jesus with open heart. They were seeking and desiring to live with Jesus in a radical way. “Lord, I want to be with you.” For me, it sounds like a very sweet word to the Lord, especially in this retreat. “Lord, my desire is to be with you.” Andrew is a beautiful character in this text. After he met Jesus, he ran to look for his own brother Simon. I could feel that excitement! He was eager to announce the good news to his own brother. “Simon, we have seen the Messiah!” “The anointed One.” Then Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. For me, Simon must have the attraction of Jesus already and now is the proper time to meet Him. It is amazing because in this text, he did not say even a single word, but he recognized Jesus. “I know you Simon. From now on, you are no longer Simon but Cephas- Peter, Rock. It is very strange to imagine, but I supposed that Jesus had that spiritual insight already about Simon. Now is the right time for Jesus to express it. Ther is a beautiful transformation of identity. From Simon to Peter. When you are with God, when you are a disciple of God, you will be transformed into something or somebody. Philip is another beautiful figure that I love in this text. Jesus just found Philip on the way. He called Philip: “Follow me!” Philip did not say a word. It seems like he was magnetized too of Jesus. Right away he left to look for his friend Nathanael. Parallel, Andrew left and look for Simon. Philip left to look for Nathanael. I left for the mission. They were eager to find another potential disciple to Jesus. Amazing, when he found Nathanael, his description of Jesus was: “the One written in the Law of Moses”- again, I really love imagining this action, to go out and announce- “We have found the Lord.” I find Nathanael funny but very sincere. “Is there something good coming from Bethlehem?” He was just honest. Bethlehem as a place was nothing. It was not written among prophets that the messiah would come from there. He was honest, no hypocrisy in his ideas. And surely, this is the reason that Jesus praised him. “He is the man without falsity in the heart.” And I imagine this encounter, Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree. Probably, Jesus saw Nathanael while he was under the fig tree meditating. “Raul, under that fig tree, I already meditated about you.. You were already in my list. I only waited for the right time. Now is the right time!” It must be the same with Philip, Jesus already meditate on him. The doubting Nathanael was transformed. Now he is the believing Philip. What a beautiful consolation, “Raul recognized the Lord, and the Lord recognized Raul.” I guess the greatest consolation here is that Transformative Presence after recognition. They became desciples. I became a Missionary”. I left my world, my family, my work in the bank and became His disciple. Jesus is the center, where I am called to work for spiritual welfare. Then suddenly opportunities opened in my life, great things were happening in my life, there is my mission that I never expected and above all, visiting places far and wide. My desire in this prayer is to have an experience with Jesus. And I pray that I may follow Him with open mind and heart. The essence of my closeness with Jesus is being His missionary, a Comboni Missionary.