\nBenedict XVI started out from the gospel episode in which Philip exhorted the hesitant Nathaniel to get to know Jesus, telling him: \u201c\u2019Come and see!\u2019 (Jn 1:46). In this reply, dry but clear, Philip shows the marks of a true witness: he is not content with making his announcement, rather he appeals directly to the interlocutor, suggesting that he himself undergoes the personal experience announced.\u201d The pope continued: \u201cWe could imagine it is to us that Philip is addressing these two verbs, which presuppose a personal involvement. The apostle urges us to get to know Jesus close at hand. In effect, friendship requires closeness; in fact, it partly lives from this. Besides, we must not forget that, according to what Mark wrote, Jesus chose the Twelve with the primary scope that they should \u2018be with him\u2019; (Mk 3:14), that is, they should share his life and learn directly from him, not only his way of behaving but above all, who he was. Later, the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians would say that the important thing is to \u2018learn Christ\u2019 (4:20), that is, not only and not so much to listen to his teachings as much as to recognize him in person, his humanity and divinity, his mystery and his beauty. He is in fact not only a Teacher, but a Friend, no, a Brother. How could we get to know him deeply while keeping a distance? Intimacy, familiarity, habit lead us to discover the true identity of Jesus Christ. There: this is exactly what the apostle Philip is reminding us of.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hat day at the Vatican: Michael has the goods on what the hat’s all about, as well as more pics of some Austrian women who are obviously in competition with the Pope And you can go here (scroll down) to see pics of other popes (including John Paul II – in Japan!) in this gear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. 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