Anxious to see Jesus !

The Gospel for today's liturgy finishes with the phrase: "He (Herod the Tetrarch) was anxious to see Jesus." (Luke 9, 7-9). The original text reads: "He was seeking to see Jesus." Herod's seeking to see Jesus may have been more of a curiosity but God can use all avenues to bring people to seek Him and discover the truth which liberates and sets free. It did get me thinking though! I wondered if I am 'anxious' to go see Jesus.  Anxious, because I know that when I come before Him, He stills my swirling soul. He is the Rock of Refuge, the Place of Safety, the Lighthouse beaming out light in the darkest night. He invites me gently to place all my anxieties into Him and trust once more.

A friend of mine has an expression: “I need to go see Jesus”, that is, “to go and pray”.  Nearly a year ago, I started using this phrase instead of saying  ‘I was going to pray’. It has received some strange looks at times but it has helped me to remember that I am not going to just 'say prayers'. I am going to nourish a relationship, to seek out the Author of life. I am going to an encounter with a living person, who 'loves me and gave himself for me' (Galatians 2:20). The anxiety we have should not be a nail-biting one but rather the reaction which Mary had to go and serve her cousin Elizabeth: "Mary went with haste." She carried the Word made Flesh and the encounter of the two babies in the womb saw the meeting of the Logos with the Voice- the voice in the wilderness which would prepare the way of the Lord. This is the haste of wanting to do God's will and be his instrument and to encounter Him.

The more I reflected, I realise that really I am also seeking to see Jesus. Each day I seek - seek Him, to do his will, to be a credible witness of his love and mercy. In St. John's Gospel, Chapter 1, the disciples of John follow Jesus and ask Him where He lives, Jesus replies:" Come and see"- an invitation to an experience. Later on in Chapter 12 of John, we read that the Greeks come to Philip and when asked what they want, they reply: "We wish to see Jesus." In St. Luke's Gospel, we see that Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Jesus. So we can see that the followers of Jesus desire to see Jesus. Not just see with their eyes, but something deeper! To see with the heart. Jesus does not ask the disciples, “Whom do you seek?” but “What do you seek?” We all search for something or someone. Ultimately we search for Someone, that is, Jesus. Such searching can be arduous, as St. Augustine reminds us: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” Sometimes we live on the crest of the wave when we have had our ‘Eureka’ moment and we realise that we are loved unconditionally by God. In turn we want others to experience this too and like the disciples, we are called to bring them to Christ.