A very simple and very profound exchange occurs in John’s Gospel 1: 39-41. John the Baptist is standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passes by. John stares hard at Jesus and says to his disciples: ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’.
The two disciples, intrigued by this statement, follow Jesus. Jesus turns and asks them ‘what do you want?’. They answer, ‘Master, where do you live?’
And Jesus replies, ‘Come and See’. The disciples follow Jesus to his home and stay with him until the tenth hour (4pm).
It is very important to note that the disciples ask Jesus where he lives and that Jesus invites them to come and see. The place where we live, the place we call home, is the place where we are most ourselves. It is the place we can relax and be ourselves, free from the formality and reserve that work and other spaces require.
The disciples want to know Jesus in that familiar, intimate way and Jesus is happy to meet them in his home. The Gospel, noting that they stayed until the tenth hour, suggest that the disciples spent the day with Jesus.
What did they speak of? What was the atmosphere like? We are not told. But, we can imagine a great familiarity, a growing sense of intimacy and confidence. It is the goal of the Christian to know Jesus and be known by Jesus in this way.
Last weekend (18th to 20th June) we were delighted to host a ‘Come and See’ weekend in our friary in Killarney. Three men who have been in regular email/zoom contact with me over several months asked the Franciscan Friars that key question ‘where do you live?’ and we responded, ‘come and see’.
Over three days they shared our life of prayer, our meals and our free time. It was a privileged time of discernment and fellowship, set against the backdrop of the beautiful town of Killarney and its historic friary.
Please keep these three men in your prayers, as they continue to open their hearts to God’s will and continue to explore the Franciscan way of life. Please pray for vocations to our way of life and please encourage those who seek to follow the Lamb, wherever he goes (Rev. 14: 4) to ask that important question, ‘Master, where do you live?’.
Friar Liam
