Today we celebrate the feast of a remarkable saint: John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, John the Beloved Disciple of the Lord.
John was a brother to James the Greater and their father was Zebedee, a fisherman; their mother was most likely a sister of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, making the boys first cousins of Jesus.
John became entirely devoted to his cousin Jesus. He must have been convinced from the very beginning of his discipleship that Jesus had something very special to share with the whole world: it was an uncommon, a magnificent, a supernatural LOVE! John, after studying Jesus as the dispenser of God the Father’s great gift of LOVE, became the theologian of LOVE! At the end of his life, when he was very old, the one thing that John kept repeating over and over again, when making public appearances was: “My little children, LOVE one another!” He was convinced that if we do this: “we have done enough!”
John, with James, was with Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana - the inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry; they were on the mountain of the transfiguration, a week before the end of Jesus’ public ministry; they wanted to call down fire from heaven on those who did not take Jesus seriously as he made his way to Jerusalem that last time; they were at the Last Supper, in the Garden of Gethsemane; but John alone, among the Apostles was present at Calvary, along with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. John knew that it was the CRUCIFIXION that was the supreme act of LOVE - the love of God for his people, in bringing about salvation for them! It was to John that Jesus entrusted his mother shortly before he breathed his last. John was also present, as our gospel tells us, at the tomb on the morning of the resurrection of Jesus, for death was conquered when Jesus rose! and our future in Paradise was secured! It was a glorious day - and John was there!
After the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, John brought the message of the GOOD NEWS to Asia. Though he offered his life to Jesus through martyrdom - Jesus accepted the intention, but miraculously preserved John from an actual martyr’s death: John died of natural causes in exile at a ripe old age! Perhaps because John was so faithful in all of his work for Jesus, including the writing of the Fourth Gospel, the book of Revelation, and the three “catholic epistles,” that Jesus demonstrated his gratitude in a special way by preserving John from physical pain and suffering! Jesus can do that - he is God!
In our first reading today from John’s first letter, we see the excitement that he had in proclaiming Jesus as Word of life, as Light of the World, as LOVE of the Father, as chief focal point of life! We must experience LOVING in order to experience God, in order to experience the JOY that God has in store for us!
Let us rejoice in the Lord! and find Christ our Life, Christ our Light, Christ our Love! - and let us share him with others!
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