Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop
January 5, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010524.cfm

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Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, John gives us this powerful verse:

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God.

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In our Gospel, we meet Nathaniel who has been sitting under a fig tree, perhaps examining his heart in the manner that John describes. I have frequently sat under the fig tree with Nathaniel because his was the name I was given over sixty years ago when I began my religious life.

I had never heard of him before that, nor at least had I paid attention to him. When Mother Bernard solemnly pronounced his name over me, it fell with a thud into my consciousness. Who was this guy anyway??? And what happened to “Regina”, “James Marita”, and “Eleanor Mary” – the names I had humbly requested! I imagine my eyebrows knit into a skeptical question mark!

I remember Mother Anthony peeking over Mother Bernard’s shoulder, encouraging me to smile as the superior’s hands rested on my head in blessing. Later she told me that she wasn’t so sure I would like the name, but that Mother Bernard really did. So I decided that I would learn to really like it too. That’s when I first met Nathaniel under the multi-trunked tree where he sat pondering his life.

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Oddly enough at that first meeting, Nathaniel was young like I was then. He was trying to figure out, and plot out, his whole life in that one afternoon, much like I used to do when I was very young. I wanted to make the right decisions to set my life on a perfect course. So did Nathaniel I think.

Well. over the years since, both Nathaniel and I have met Jesus who has intervened in our self-interested ponderings. Jesus has called us beyond our mirror-bound reflections to the “greater things” of God’s vision for us and for Creation.

Nathaniel 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.”
Nathaniel 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.”

John 1:47-50

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When I meet Nathaniel these days under the aging fig, we too have aged and mellowed. Asking God’s sustaining intervention for just the day or the hour has become sufficient. Now as the plump fruit falls occasionally from the limb, we listen more than we think or speak. Jesus has joined us there under the leaves’ broad shadows. We share the fruit that has been given to us. And yes, Jesus still knows us in ways that amaze, challenge, and comfort.

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Poetry: Seeing for a Moment – Denise Levertov

I thought I was growing wings—
it was a cocoon.

I thought, now is the time to step
into the fire—
it was deep water.

Eschatology is a word I learned
as a child: the study of Last Things;

facing my mirror—no longer young,

the news—always of death,
the dogs—rising from sleep and clamoring and howling, howling,

nevertheless
I see for a moment
that’s not it: it is
the First Things.

Word after word
floats through the glass.
Toward me.

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Music: Under the Fig Tree – Lake Isabel