Reflection
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
John 12:28
“We want to see Jesus” is a heartfelt request. Seeing Jesus comes at a cost. The way we meet him is through others; the way others will see him is through us. This is an awesome responsibility. If we see Jesus, we are called to reveal what we know. We are expected to show God’s love by loving friend and stranger, to show God’s mercy by forgiving those who wrong us, to show God’s generosity by giving of ourselves. We are expected to show where God may be found by bringing others to the places where we find God. People who know we are Christian request of us, as the Greeks requested of Phillip, “We want to see Jesus.”
Prayer
My I receive the grace to see and follow Jesus.
Action
How do I reflect the life of Jesus? What will it require in my life to be a grain of wheat that dies in order to bring forth much fruit? Am I willing to take the risk?
Suggested Reading
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
John 12:20-28
I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask yourself “How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?” Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery.
Mother Teresa
Those who cannot see Christ in the poor are atheists indeed.
Dorothy Day
In the faces of men and women I see God.
Walt Whitman
Let God love you through others and let God love others through you.
M. Street
One can believe in…Jesus Christ and feel no personal loyalty to Him at all – indeed, pay no attention whatever to His commandments and His will for one’s life.
Catherine Marshall
There is no peace in the border lands. The halfway Christian is a torment to himself and of no benefit to others.
Earnest Worker
The Christian needs to walk in peace, so no matter what happens they will be able to bear witness to a watching world.
Henry Blackaby
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
G.K. Chesterton
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.
Stephen Colbert
How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, His precepts!
Benjamin Franklin