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FEAST OF ST JOHN THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST, DECEMBER 27, 2024

Writer's picture:  Olivia M. Bannan Olivia M. Bannan
St John the Evangelist by Venetian Titian
St John the Evangelist by Venetian Titian


Gospel

Jn 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.


REFLECTION

"the other disciple whom Jesus loved"



The sons of Zebedee and Salome (not to be confused with the daughter of Herodias-Salome, the one who danced for Herod), were St James the Greater and St John. Jesus named them “Sons of Thunder”.


St John accompanied Jesus during His days of preaching, the central events of Transfiguration, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.


He was entrusted to care for Mother Mary. He wrote one Gospel, three epistles and the Book of Revelations.


The “other disciple whom Jesus loved”, St John, reclined with Him at the Last Supper. Jesus had a special affection for John.


St John was exiled to Patmos for opposing the worship of the emperor Domitian and for his powerful preaching. He died in Ephesus.


Interesting tidbits about St John the Evangelist.

  • He was from Bethsaida, a Galilean town on the northern shore of the Sea of Tiberias.

  • He came from a well-to-do fishing family.

  • Upon their call from Jesus, they left their father in the boat with the hired servants and followed Him completely and without hesitation.

  • Salome, their mother, followed as well accompanying Jesus even to Calvary.

  • St John once followed John the Baptist. But when John the Baptist showed him the Lamb of God, John left and spent the day with Jesus and never left Him.

  • He wrote his Gospel in his old age but remembered distinctly the exact hour he met Jesus.

  • He was not yet 20 when he answered the Lord's call.

  • His Gospel is not considered a synoptic Gospel like Matthew, Mark and Luke because of its different content and style.

  • The winged eagle symbolizes St John because it is the animal that dwells closest to heaven.


Do we remember when we met Jesus and vowed to follow Him?


Would we follow Him without hesitation and say "Yes" and "Yes" if asked to care for His beloved Mother? St John took care of her until the end of her days.


Let us, as the new year approaches, bring our Mother Mary into our lives.


Merry Christmas

God Bless You















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