DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Saturday, December 27, 2014 Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist Christmas Time - Psalter Proper (White) Readings: Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97:1-12;Jn 20:1-8 Response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just. Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Verse: He saw and he believed. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist Patron of Asia Minor St. John, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry. He became the beloved disciple and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when the Savior made him the guardian of His Mother. His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. He founded many churches in Asia Minor. He wrote the fourth Gospel, and three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation is also attributed to him. Brought to Rome, tradition relates that he was by order of Emperor Dometian cast into a cauldron of boiling oil but came forth unhurt and was banished to the island of Pathmos for a year. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus about the year 100. St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, a virtue he had learned from his Divine Master, and which he constantly inculcated by word and example. The beloved disciple died at Ephesus, where a stately church was erected over his tomb. It was afterwards converted into a Mohammedan mosque. John is credited with the authorship of three epistles and one Gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. He is also supposed by many to be the author of the book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, although this identification is less certain. FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, First John 1:1-4 1 Something which has existed since the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have watched and touched with our own hands, the Word of life -- this is our theme. 2 That life was made visible; we saw it and are giving our testimony, declaring to you the eternal life, which was present to the Father and has been revealed to us. 3 We are declaring to you what we have seen and heard, so that you too may share our life. Our life is shared with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing this to you so that our joy may be complete. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 1 Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad! 2 Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne. 5 The mountains melt like wax, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory. 11 Light dawns for the upright, and joy for honest hearts. 12 Rejoice in Yahweh, you who are upright, praise his unforgettable holiness. GOSPEL, John 20:2-8 2 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 dont know where they have put him. 3 So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. 4 They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. 6 Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground 7 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. 8 Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Lord our God, we honour today St Stephen, the first martyr of your young Church. Make us good witnesses like him, people filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit, men and women who are full of fortitude, as we try to live the life of Jesus. Give us a great trust that we may live and die in your hands and make us pray for those who harm us, that you may forgive them and us. We ask you this through Christ our Lord. Amen. ON READING 1: 1 John 1:1-4 (Prologue) 1 John 1, 1-4. Since the time of the Fathers, these verses have been described as the prologue, like the prologue of the Fourth Gospel (Jn 1:1-18). In fact, there are many similarities in doctrine, style and even language between the two. Both passages sing the praises of the mystery of the Incarnation: the Word of God who existed from all eternity, from the beginning, became man (has been seen, heard, looked upon and touched) so that men might partake of divine life -- might have fellowship, communion, with the Father and the Son. Like the Gospel prologue, this one is written in a rhythmical way -- That which was..., which we have heard..., which we have seen.... And many of the ideas are the same -- for example, the reference to the beginning (cf. Jn 1:1); the term the Word to refer to the second Person of the Blessed Trinity; the reference to life (cf. Jn 1:4). As St. Bede points out, from the very start of the epistle we are being taught the divinity and, at the same time, the humanity of our God and Lord Jesus Christ (In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.). 1 John 1, 1. That which was from the beginning: although the pronoun used is neuter -- as if to indicate the ineffable character of the mystery of Christ -- the whole =phrase refers not to a thing or an abstract teaching, but to the divine Person of the Son, who in the fullness of time was made manifest (v. 2), assuming a human nature. In other words, St John, as in his Gospel, is teaching that Jesus, a historical person (the Apostles have lived with him, have seen him, have heard him speak) is the eternal Word of God (cf. Jn 1:1 and note). That which we have heard,...seen...: all those references to perception by the senses show the Apostles desire to make it clear that God really did become man. This may be because certain heretics were denying the Incarnation, or it may simply be that he thought it necessary to spell out this fundamental truth of our faith. He did so in the Gospel (cf., e.g., Jn 20:30-31); and in this letter we frequently find phrases like Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:2); Jesus is the Christ (2:22; cf. 5:1); Jesus is the Son of God (4:15; cf.5:1, 12,20). We have recently been reminded that the Church reverently preserved the mystery of the Son of God, who was made man, and in the course of the ages and of the centuries has propounded it for belief in a more explicit way; moreover, what the Church teaches concerning the one and the same Christ the Son of God, begotten before the ages in his divine nature and in time in his human nature, and also concerning the eternal persons of the Most Holy Trinity, belongs to the immutable truth of the Catholic faith (SCDF, Mysterium Filii Dei, 2 and 6). 1 John 1, 2. St. John introduces this verse by way of parenthesis to explain what he means by the word of life. In the Gospel he had written, In him [the Word] was life (Jn 1:4) and elsewhere he records Jesus statement, I am the bread of life (Jn 6:35, 48). These expressions declare that the Son of God has life in all its fullness, that is, divine life, the source of all life, natural and supernatural. Jesus in fact identified himself with Life (cf. Jn 11:25; 14:6). By the Incarnation, the Word of God manifests true life and at the same time makes it possible for that life to be communicated to men -- imperfectly, by means of grace, while they are in this world, and perfectly in heaven, by means of the beatific vision (cf. 1 Jn 5: 12). And we testify to it: the testimony of the Apostles is something unique in the history of the Church, because (unlike those who succeed them) they know our Lord personally, they have been witnesses of his life, death and resurrection (cf. Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8). With the Father: the Greek implies closeness, difference, and the mutual relationship between Father and Son, so providing a glimpse of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity (cf. note on Jn 1:1). 1 John 1, 3-4. This testimony about Christ is designed to lead to fellowship and complete joy. Fellowship with the Apostles (the Greek word is koinonia) means, firstly, having the same faith as those who lived with Jesus: They saw our Lord in the body, St Augustine reminds us, and they heard words from his lips and have proclaimed them to us; we also have heard them, but we have not seen him. They saw him, we do not see him, and yet we have fellowship with them, because we have the same faith (In Epist. Ioann. ad Parthos, 1, 3). To have fellowship with the Father and the Son we need to have the same faith as the Apostles: St John openly teaches that those who desire to partake of union with God must first partake of union with the Church, learn the same faith and benefit from the same sacraments as the Apostles received from the fullness of Truth made flesh (St Bede, In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.). The Church, the Second Vatican Council teaches, is not simply a collection of people who think the same way; it is the people of God whom Christ established as a communion of life, love and truth (Lumen Gentium, 9). Fellowship, communion, with the Apostles, with the Church, has as its purpose to bring about union with God (with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ); this is a subject St John develops over the course of this letter, as he previously did in his Gospel (cf., e.g., Jn 17:20ff). Here he uses expressions such as to have the Son, and, in respect of the Son, to have the Father (2:23; 5:11ff); to be in God (2:5; 5:20); to abide in God (2:6, 24; 3:24; 4:13, 15, 16). This deep, intimate communion means that, without losing his personality, man shares in a wonderful and real way in the life of God himself. If Sacred Scripture uses many different expressions in this connection, it is due to the fact that the human mind, because it is so limited, cannot fully grasp the marvelous truth of communion with God. Complete joy is the outcome of this communion. Most manuscripts say our joy; others, including the Vulgate, say your joy. The difference is not important, because our involves the Apostles and the faithful, particularly in view of the mutual fellowship previously mentioned (cf. Jn 15:11; 17:13). This joy, which will reach its fullness in the next life, is already in this life in some sense complete, insofar as knowledge of Jesus is the only thing that can satisfy mans aspirations. 1 John 1, 5-2:29. This section describes what communion with God is, and the demands it makes on us. We can say there are two parts in the section: the first (1:5 - 2:11) teaches that communion with God means walking in the light and, therefore, rejecting sin and keeping the commandments. The second (2:12-19) warns the readers to guard against worldly concupiscence and not trust false teachers. St. John is writing as a pastor of souls who has lived the life of the Lord and reflected deeply upon it. His teaching interweaves truths of faith with moral and ascetical demands because he wants Christians to live in a way consistent with their faith. Therefore, the text does not really divide into a doctrinal section and a moral section. ON THE GOSPEL: John 20:1a, 2-8 (The Empty Tomb) Today’s Gospel presents to us the passage of the Gospel of John which speaks about the Beloved Disciple. Probably, this text was chosen to read and to meditate on it today, feast of Saint John the Evangelist, for the immediate identification that we all make of the beloved disciple with the apostle John. But the strange thing is that in no passage of the Gospel of John it is said that the beloved disciple is John. But then, from the most remote times of the Church, it has always be insisted upon in identifying both of these. This is why, in insisting on the similarity between the two, 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 redaction 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 remain or 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!” And both must remain together as mother and son. To separate the Old Testament from the New one, in that time was what we would call today 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 Sepulchre. 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 indicated the way in which the Gospel describes the reaction of the two men before what both of them see: “He entered and saw the linen clothes lying on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen clothes 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? The Beloved Disciple looks, sees in a different way, he perceives more than the others. He has a loving look which perceives the presence of the novelty 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 perceives the presence of Jesus and says: “It is the Lord!” (Jn 21, 7). On that occasion, Peter informed by the affirmation 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”. John 20, 1-2. All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and the dis- ciples regarding Christs glorious resurrection, beginning with the fact of the emp- ty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke 24:1-12) and then telling of the various appearances of the risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during His journeys (Luke 8:1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely stayed with Him right up to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw where His body was laid (Luke 23:55). Now, after the obligatory Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the tomb. The Gospel points out that she went early, when it was still dark: her love and veneration led her to go without delay, to be with our Lords body. John 20, 4. The Fourth Gospel makes it clear that, although the women, and specifically Mary Magdalene, were the first to reach the tomb, the Apostles were the first to enter it and see the evidence that Christ had risen (the empty tomb, the linen clothes lying and the napkin in a place by itself). Bearing witness to this will be an essential factor in the mission which Christ will entrust to them: You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem ... and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8; cf. Acts 2: 32). John, who reached the tomb first (perhaps because he was the younger), did not go in, out of deference to Peter. This is an indication that Peter was already regarded as leader of the Apostles. John 20, 5-7. The words the Evangelist uses to describe what Peter and he saw in the empty tomb convey with vivid realism the impression it made on them, etching on their memory details which at first sight seem irrelevant. The whole scene inside the tomb in some way caused them to intuit that the Lord had risen. Some of the words contained in the account need further explanation, so terse is the translation. The linen clothes lying there: the Greek participle translated as lying there seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened, deflated, as if they were emptied when the body of Jesus rose and disappeared -- as if it had come out of the clothes and bandages without their being unrolled, passing right through them (just as later He entered the Cenacle when the doors were shut). This would explain the clothes being fallen, flat lying, which is how the Greek literally translates, after Jesus body -- which had filled them -- left them. One can readily understand how this would amaze a witness, how unforgettable the scene The napkin...rolled up in a place by itself: the first point to note is that the napkin, which had been wrapped round the head, was not on top of the clothes, but placed on one side. The second, even more surprising thing is that, like the clothes, it was still rolled up but, unlike the clothes, it still had a certain volume, like a container, possibly due to the stiffness given it by the ointments: this iswhat the Greek participle, here translated as rolled, seems to indicate. From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus body must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which transcended the laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body being reanimated as happened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who had to be unbound before he could walk (cf. John 11:44). John 20, 8-10. As Mary Magdalene had told them, the Lord was not in the tomb; but the two Apostles realized that there was no question of any robbery, which was what she thought had happened, because they saw the special way the clothes and napkin were; they know began to understand what the Master had so often told them about His death and resurrection (cf. Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; etc.; cf. also the notes on Mt. 12:39-40 and Lk 18:31-40). The empty tomb and the other facts were perceptible to the senses; but the resurrection, even though it had effects that could be tested by experience, reuires faith if it is to be accepted. Christs resurrection is a real, historic fact: His body and soul were reunited. But since His was a glorious resurrection unlike Lazarus, far beyond our capacity in this life to understand what happened, and outside the scope of sense experience, a special gift of God is required -- the gift of faith -- to know and accept as a certainty this fact which, while it is historical, is also supernatural. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas can say that the individual arguments taken alone are not sufficient proof of Christs resurrection, but taken together, in a cumulative way, they manifest it perfectly. Particularly important in this regard are the spiritual proofs (cf. specially Luke 24:25-27), the angelic testimony (cf. Luke 24:4-7) and Christs own post-resurrection word confirmed by miracles (cf. John 3:13; Matthew 16:21; 17:22; 20:18) (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 55, a. 6 ad 1). In addition to Christs predictions about His passion, death and resurrection (cf. John 2:19; Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22), the Old Testament also foretells the glorious victory of the Messiah and, in some way, His resurrection (cf. Psalm 16:9; Isaiah 52:13; Hosea 6:2). The Apostles begin to grasp the true meaning of Sacred Scripture after the resurrection, particularly once they receive the Holy Spirit, who fully enlightens their minds to understand the content of the Word of God. It is easy to imagine the surprise and elation they all feel when Peter and John tell them what they have seen in the tomb. FINAL PRAYERS: 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) I am all at once what Christ is,since he was what I am, and/ This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,/ Is immortal diamond. -- Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ It is by God’s mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world. -- Pope Francis Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 01:06:13 +0000