Happy New Year; Happy Feast of the Epiphany!

The Christmas season is drawing to a close (it ends on the Feast of the Lord's Baptism).

Today I spent some quiet time praying at Sacred Space, a website that has guided me through many periods over the last several years.

When I was being formed under Ignatian Spirituality, one tip that I learned regarding discernment was to bring one's concern to the Eucharist, and to listen through the Liturgy what God might be saying about that concern.

Well, when the passage for today's prayer (Friday, January 5) materialized on my computer screen, my hair almost stood on end, because I felt as if God was speaking almost directly about my current concerns.

Here's the passage:

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

- John 1, 43-51

And if that weren't enough, the randomized instruction for the colloquy part of the prayer echoed the theme I personally chose for this blog:

Jesus, You always welcomed little children when you walked on this earth.
Teach me to have a childlike trust in you.
To live in the knowledge that You will never abandon me.

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"Come and see."

When I dwelt on the passage, Nathaneal's initial reaction sounded, to me, almost arrogant: "What good can come out of Nazareth?"

Yet Philip's reply was far from defensive. Instead, he very gently said, "Come and see."

The very same line that Jesus said to the two disciples who wanted to know where He was staying.

"Come and see."

I used to read and talk about that very same line when I was a speaker for DWTL.

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During the Colloquy, I prayed to the Lord to give me the grace to be a better witness. A gentle witness.