FROM FATHER RAY'S ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE CONGREGATION,
                                              JANUARY, 2003...

 "I want to end my Annual Address with a challenge to the parish.  In the Gospel for today, Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me".  As a follower of Jesus, Philip found Nathaniel and invited him to "come and see."

The most important invitation that we might ever make is the same one that Philip makes to Nathaniel: "Come and see.  Come and see the Lord."

Using the words of Father Chris Gary, we are reminded that there must be countless people that you and I know or encounter on a daily basis who are looking for the love, joy, peace, hope, forgiveness, and salvation of the Christian Gospel - people who are looking for some Good News in the midst of all the bad news.

We all have neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family members who are awaiting the invitation or our recommendation to "come and see!"  Just as Nathaniel had been eagerly awaiting the same invitation, there are those around us, people in our lives, who are awaiting our invitation.

Who are the Nathaniels in our lives?  Who might be awaiting just such a recommen-dation from us?  Who are our Nathaniels?  Seek them out, as Philip did, and invite them to "come and see!"

I want to do something different this year.  I want to adopt a "watch word" for our life together at St. Alban's.  I want our "watch word" to be "Come and See."

We are here today because we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  As good and as wonderful as this is, it isn't enough.  We are all commanded to commend the Faith that is in us.  We must invite others to "come and see."  Some will accept the invitation and some won't.  But if we don't offer the invitation, there is nothing for others to accept.  And the ones who do accept our invitation to "Come and See," some will see and some won't.  But our responsibility is to invite.  We must take the risk of being turned down.

Here's a poem for us to consider:

There was a very cautious man,
Who never laughed or played;
He never risked, he never tried,
He never sang or prayed.

And when one day he passed away,
His insurance was denied;
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died.

St. Alban's has something to offer to people in this community who do not have a church home, people who do not have a sustaining Faith.  We owe these people an invitation to "come and see."  No matter what else we do this year, we need to include the invitation "Come and See."

You will hear and see the words "Come and See" often during this year.  It will be a reminder to us, as followers of Jesus Christ, to issue to others the invitation to "come and see."

The responsibility is given to us by Christ himself.  We must not let him down."

AMEN. 



"COME & SEE"