THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED Do you have days when you feel “far” from God? Perhaps you are weighed down by trials and tribulation. Perhaps you are struggling with a personal sin that makes you feel unworthy of God’s love. I have those days. When they come, don’t you feel jealous of others who seem to live in intimacy with God? This is why today’s Gospel is such a reassurance. Jesus reminds us of a God who “makes his sun rise on both the good and the bad, and gives rain to the just and unjust.” When those days come for me, I think of St. John, the writer of the fourth Gospel but also referred to simply as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” We know that it was John who leaned at Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper. We know, too, that among all the Apostles, it was only he who stood by the foot of the cross together with Mary and the other women. He was not only loved by Jesus. He lived his life loving Jesus in return. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” — what a unique designation, what an intimate title! I wonder if the other disciples felt a little jealous that only John is called the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” I know I am. How I wish I could also claim that appellation. But I believe this is what John the evangelist is telling all the readers of the Gospel. Even though we know it was John, John never identified himself by name in the Gospel he wrote. It was always the anonymous phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is telling us that everyone can be that “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Perhaps John is inviting every person who picks up the Bible to supply his own name in that title of intimacy. John is not making himself the exclusive owner of that title. John is telling us that that disciple can be you and I. Yes, Jesus loved John. But Jesus loves you as well. You, too, are a beloved of Jesus. You, too, are a “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Remind yourself of this often and it will draw you farther and farther away from sin and closer and closer to Jesus’ embrace. Fr. Joel Jason REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Say this phrase repeatedly: “I am _______ whom Jesus loved.” Lord Jesus, in spite of my many faults, you know that I love You. Help my inconsistency. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 11:50:27 +0000
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