DECEMBER 27, 2019 : FEAST OF SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
Lectionary: 697

Reading 11 JN 1:1-4

Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

Responsorial PsalmPS 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12

R. (12) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are around him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
R.  Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

Alleluia See Te Deum

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 20:1A AND 2-8

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.

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Meditation: John saw the Word of God made flesh and believed

What was it like for those who encountered the only begotten Son of God in human form? John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, wrote his Gospel account as an eye-witness of the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1,14), and who died and rose for our salvation. John was the first apostle to reach the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday morning. Like the other disciples, he was not ready to see an empty tomb and to hear the angel's message, Why do you seek the living among the dead (Luke 24:5)? 

The Lord Jesus came to set us free from sin and death and give us everlasting life
What did John see in the tomb that led him to believe in the resurrection of Jesus? It was certainly not a dead body. The dead body of Jesus would have dis-proven the resurrection and made his death a tragic conclusion to a glorious career as a great teacher and miracle worker. When John saw the empty tomb he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy that he would rise again after three days. Through the gift of faith John realized that no tomb on earth could contain the Lord and giver of life.

Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father and the Savior who died and rose for us
John in his first epistle testifies: What we have seen, heard, and touched we proclaim as the word of life which existed "from the beginning" (1 John 1:1-4). John bears witness to what has existed from all eternity. This "Word of Life" is Jesus the Word Incarnate, but also Jesus as the word announced by the prophets and Jesus the word now preached throughout the Christian churches for all ages to come. One thing is certain, if Jesus had not risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples, we would never have heard of him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing men and women into people radiant with joy, hope, and courage.

The reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central fact of the Christian faith. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know him and the power of his resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter the living Jesus Christ and to know him personally as our Savior and Lord.

"Lord Jesus Christ, you have triumphed over the grave and you have won new life for us. Give me the eyes of faith to see you in your glory. Help me to draw near to you and to grow in the knowledge of your great love and power that sets us free to love and serve you now and forever in your everlasting kingdom."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The Word of Life was seen and touched, by Severus of Antioch (488-538 AD)

"Given that this same John also said, 'No one has ever seen God' (John 1:18, 1 John 1:4:12), how can he assure us that the living Word of Life has been seen and touched? It is clear that it was in his incarnate and human form that he was visible and touchable. What was not true of him by nature became true of him in that way, for he is one and the same indivisible Word, both visible and invisible, and without diminishing in either respect he became touchable in both his divine-human nature. For he worked his miracles in his divinity and suffered for us in his humanity." (excerpt from CATENA)

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FEAST OF SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, JOHN 20:1a, 2-8
​(1 John 1:1-4; Psalm 97)

KEY VERSE: "He saw and believed" (v.8).
TO KNOW: John was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Together with his brother James, and with Simon Peter, they formed an inner circle among the Twelve. John is credited with the authorship of three epistles and one gospel. The gospels (good news) were written as testimonies of faith to other believers. John wrote toward the end of the first century, the last evangelist to write a gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of his writing was done by others after his death. Like the other evangelists, John wrote from the viewpoint of the resurrection. When Mary Magdalene discovered the empty tomb she ran to tell Peter and John (the "disciple whom Jesus loved," Jn 20:2). The two disciples raced to the tomb to see for themselves. Peter was slow to understand the meaning, but John "saw and believed" (v.8). Just as Jesus was born from the virgin womb of Mary, Jesus was reborn from the virgin tomb in which he was laid.
TO LOVE: Let us "who hold and teach the Catholic faith that comes to us from the apostles" continue in our own time to hand on the faith that we have received, just as the apostles did in their time. [Eucharistic Prayer I]
TO SERVE: St. John, help me to recognize that Jesus is alive in my life.​

FEAST OF SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

John the Apostle was the son of Zebedee and Salome. A fisherman, he and his brother James the Great, were called the Sons of Thunder. John was called by Jesus during the first year of his ministry, and he traveled everywhere with him, becoming known as the beloved disciple. He was the only one of the Twelve not to forsake the Savior in the hour of his Passion, standing at the foot of the cross with Jesus' mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. While Jesus hung on the cross, he made John the guardian of his mother (John 19:27). Tradition says that John took Mary into his home and when persecution broke out in Jerusalem, they traveled to Ephesus. John founded many churches in Asia Minor. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus about the year 100.

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Friday 27 December 2019

St John. Day of Penance
1 John 1:1-4. Psalm 96(97):1-2, 5-6, 11-12. John 20:2-8.
Let the just rejoice in the Lord – Psalm 96(97):1-2, 5-6, 11-12.
‘Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.’

After all the anticipation and preparation, the days following Christmas can feel a little empty. With the presents, unwrapped, the dinner long gone, and the branches on the brightly lit tree already beginning to droop a little. Thank goodness we have the Spirit’s gentle guidance in the Church’s liturgical life to prod us into action, or we may never get back up! Today is the feast of St John, an important witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. With the other Apostles, John ‘saw and believed.’ The first reading today is especially powerful, it is John’s personal testament to these events. Today, he instructs us to keep the joy of Christmas alive in our hearts, to contemplate the mystery of the incarnation and to tell others of the wonderful works of God, so that with John, ‘our own joy may be complete.’

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Saint John the Apostle

Saint of the Day for December 27

(6 – 100)

 

Detail of the central panel of a triptych | Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John | Pietro Perugino | photo by The Yorck Project

Saint John the Apostle’s Story

It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother Andrew: Jesus called them; they followed. The absoluteness of their response is indicated by the account. James and John “were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21b-22).

For the three former fishermen—Peter, James and John—that faith was to be rewarded by a special friendship with Jesus. They alone were privileged to be present at the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemane. But John’s friendship was even more special. Tradition assigns to him the Fourth Gospel, although most modern Scripture scholars think it unlikely that the apostle and the evangelist are the same person.

John’s own Gospel refers to him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2), the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, and the one to whom Jesus gave the exquisite honor of caring for his mother, as John stood beneath the cross. “Woman, behold your son…. Behold, your mother” (John 19:26b, 27b).

Because of the depth of his Gospel, John is usually thought of as the eagle of theology, soaring in high regions that other writers did not enter. But the ever-frank Gospels reveal some very human traits. Jesus gave James and John the nickname, “sons of thunder.” While it is difficult to know exactly what this meant, a clue is given in two incidents.

In the first, as Matthew tells it, their mother asked that they might sit in the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom—one on his right hand, one on his left. When Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he would drink and be baptized with his baptism of pain, they blithely answered, “We can!” Jesus said that they would indeed share his cup, but that sitting at his right hand was not his to give. It was for those to whom it had been reserved by the Father. The other apostles were indignant at the mistaken ambition of the brothers, and Jesus took the occasion to teach them the true nature of authority: “…[W]hoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28).

On another occasion, the “sons of thunder” asked Jesus if they should not call down fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans, who would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. But Jesus “turned and rebuked them” (see Luke 9:51-55).

On the first Easter, Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him’” (John 20:2). John recalls, perhaps with a smile, that he and Peter ran side by side, but then “the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:4b). He did not enter, but waited for Peter and let him go in first. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8).

John was with Peter when the first great miracle after the Resurrection took place—the cure of the man crippled from birth—which led to their spending the night in jail together. The mysterious experience of the Resurrection is perhaps best contained in the words of Acts: “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they [the questioners] were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

The Apostle John is traditionally considered the author also of three New Testament letters and the Book of Revelation. His Gospel is a very personal account. He sees the glorious and divine Jesus already in the incidents of his mortal life. At the Last Supper, John’s Jesus speaks as if he were already in heaven. John’s is the Gospel of Jesus’ glory.

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Reflection

It is a long way from being eager to sit on a throne of power or to call down fire from heaven to becoming the man who could write: “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16).

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Saint John the Apostle is the Patron Saint of:

Turkey

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Lectio Divina: St. John the Apostle

Lectio Divina

Friday, December 27, 2019

Christmas Time

1) Opening prayer

Lord God, You are Love itself.
We know that You loved us first
before we could ever love You.
Let this unforgettable experience
of Your “beloved disciple” John
become also our deep and lasting experience.
May the love You have shown us
in Your Son Jesus Christ
move us to love You very deeply in return
and overflow to all those we meet in life.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading – John 20: 2-8

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we don't know where they have put Him.”
So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in.
Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over His head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.

3) Reflection

• Today’s Gospel presents to us the passage of the Gospel of John which speaks about the Beloved Disciple. This text was probably chosen to read and meditate on today, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, because of the identification that we all make of the Beloved Disciple with the apostle John. But the strange thing is, in no passage of the Gospel of John is it said that the beloved disciple is John. From the earliest times of the Church, the identification of the two has always been assumed. This is why, in insisting that the two (John and the Beloved Disciple) are the same, we run the risk of losing a very important aspect of the message of the Gospel in regard to the Beloved Disciple.
• In the Gospel of John, the Beloved Disciple represents the new community which is born around Jesus. We find the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross, together with Mary, the mother of Jesus (Jn 19:26). Mary represents the people of the Old Covenant. At the end of the first century, the time in which the final version of the Gospel of John was compiled, there was a growing conflict between the Synagogue and the Church. Some Christians wanted to abandon the Old Testament and  keep only the New Testament. At the foot of the Cross, Jesus says: “Woman, behold your son!” and to the Beloved Disciple: “Son, behold your mother!” Both must remain together as mother and son. To separate the Old Testament from the New in that time was what we would call today a separation between faith (NT) and life (OT).
• In the Gospel today, Peter and the Beloved Disciple, informed by the witness of Mary Magdalene, ran together toward the Holy Sepulcher. The young one runs faster than the elderly one and reaches the tomb first. He looks inside the tomb, observes everything, but does not enter. He allows Peter to enter first. Here is the way in which the Gospel describes the reaction of the two men to what both of them see: “He entered and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, he saw and he believed”. Both of them saw the same thing, but this is said only of the Beloved Disciple that he believed: “Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, he saw and he believed”. Why? Is it that Peter did not believe? Or is it to juxtapose Peter’s belief with the other’s new-found awareness?
• The Beloved Disciple looks and sees in a different way. He has a loving look which recognizes the presence of the uniqueness of Jesus. The morning after that night of working, looking for fish and then the miraculous catch of fish, it is he, the Beloved Disciple, who recognizes the presence of Jesus and says: “It is the Lord!” (Jn 21:7). On that occasion, Peter, informed by the assertion of the Beloved Disciple, also recognizes and begins to understand. Peter learns from the Beloved Disciple. Then Jesus asks three times: “Peter, do you love Me?” (Jn 21:15, 16, 17). Three times Peter answers: “You know that I love You!” After the third time, Jesus entrusts the flock to the care of Peter, and in that moment Peter also becomes a “beloved disciple.”

4) Personal questions

• All of us who believe in Jesus are today beloved disciples. Do I have the same loving look to perceive the presence of God and to believe in his Resurrection?
• To separate the Old Testament from the New is the same thing as to separate faith and life. How do I live this today?

5) Concluding Prayer

The mountains melt like wax,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim His saving justice,
all nations see His glory. (Ps 97:5-6)

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