The Beloved Disciple

The week between Christmas and its Octave is filled with feasts of pure souls, those Christ would wish around his manger crib.  December 26th was St. Stephen, the First Martyr, who washed his robe in the blood of the Lamb.  Tomorrow we commemorate the Holy Innocents, those babes whom Herod had slain in hopes of destroying the One he feared. Today, December 27, is the Feast of St. John the Evangelist.

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist is the one to whom Jesus on the Cross entrusted His Mother, and through John, made her the spiritual mother of all mankind. "Woman, behold your son." John was the chief evangelist of the Divinity of Christ.  St. John was the virgin apostle, one who knew how to conquer the flesh. This is why he became "the disciple whom Jesus loved, and who also leaned on His breast at supper." We owe to St. John the most beautiful pages on the Divinity of the Word made flesh, the Gospel I printed out for Christmas. He wrote three Epistles, and of course, the Apocalypse (Revelation). For this reason he is symbolized by the Eagle, who soars to the heights. He actually received the title of martyr, since he only escaped a violent death by the special protection of which the Gospel speaks. That escape, and his long life, made many believe that he would not die. The Gospel of today's Mass, is in John's own words, (John's 21: 19-24).  In it Peter wants to know about John and his destiny. Jesus told Peter it didn't concern him. His vague reply was one reason people thought John would not die.  John himself refutes this in his own Gospel.  He contrasts the "he will not die," which is absolute, with the words of Christ: "If I wish that he remain," which is conditional.  John lived until the year 101 A.D., and cared for the Virgin Mary until her "dormition," another word I'll cover at some point.

The Church honors St. John as being filled with divine wisdom, and applies to him a notable passage from the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament (Ecclesiasticus 15: 1-6). It is the Epistle read in today's Mass.

"He that feareth God will do good: and he that possesseth justice shall lay hold on her, and she will meet him as an honorable mother. With the bread of life and understanding she shall feed him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink: and she shall be made strong in him, and he shall not be moved: and she shall hold him fast, and he shall not be confounded: and she shall exalt him among his neighbors, and in the midst of the Church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. The Lord our God shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name."

The Church of the Lateran, in Rome, the "home" church of the Popes is named St. John Lateran, for both St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle Evangelist, the one who proclaimed the coming and the one who told of His life and gave us an astounding view of what is to come.

12/27/11