Follow Me

Christmas Weekday

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

John 1:43-51– Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip.  And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”  But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”  Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel.  There is no duplicity in him.”  Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?  You will see greater things than this.”  And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“Follow me.”

 (Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

“Follow me.”  We’ve heard it so often that it has lost some of its meaning for us.  But it had real meaning for Jesus.  He uses this phrase numerous times when He is calling disciples.  The way Jesus presents the Christian life is very simple: it is following Christ.  Our lives are about following Christ.  Christ doesn’t just ask us to go and to do things (e.g., suffer an illness, marry a woman, confront an immoral friend), He asks us to come and do things.  Mary and Joseph are perfect examples of this in the Christmas season, and always.  What do the Gospels say they go out from Nazareth to do throughout the world?  Not much, it seems.  We know very little about any projects they went out to do.  We only know that they could be found close to Christ, very close. 

Any call we have from Christ is ultimately a call to Himself.  The call to suffer an illness is really a call to suffer with Christ.  The call to marry a woman is really the call to serve her with Christ.  The call to confront an immoral friend is really a call to bring this man to conversion alongside Christ.  If we want to be disciples we must hear Christ’s call and answer Christ’s call.  That is why this type of prayer (Christian meditation) is so important; it is based on hearing and responding.  Is Christ asking anything of us through this Gospel? 

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)