My little kindergarten children at St. Anthony School always say to me, “I saw you in the church!”
They seem very proud to say that, so I make a big smile, asking, “Really?”
I believe they really saw me in a way that we don’t usually do.
When the children see me, they take me into their heart, trying to carve my presence in their little memory so that they won’t forget. It is a very personal act and heroic thing for that age. So I know I am recognized and dearly loved by them.
When Jesus said to Nathaniel, “I saw you under the fig tree,” it was the moment for him to confess, “Sir, you are the Son of God.” It is the encounter that changes one man’s life forever because God knows who he is, what he thinks, how he lives.
I hope my children’s comment change my awareness of God through these little ones, so I am also able to confess, “My dear friends, I saw in the church too!”