Today we commemorate the feast day of St. John,
traditionally known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Throughout the ministry
of Jesus, John was privileged to be witness to the Lord’s Transfiguration and
the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane. His closeness to Jesus is most illustrated at
the Last Supper where he reclined his head upon Jesus’ breast. From the cross,
our Lord sees his mother and John, “the disciple whom he loved” at the foot of
the cross. It is at this point that Jesus gives the care of His mother to John.
He says to Mary, “Woman, behold your son.” And to John, “Behold your mother.”
And then from that hour John took care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In today’s gospel, John enters the tomb after Peter
and saw and believed that the Lord was not in the tomb. With that belief in the
risen Lord, John would go on to spread the good news that Jesus was crucified,
died and rose from the dead for our salvation.
In John’s own response to Jesus throughout his life
was to bring the love that Jesus preached to the world. Further, John wants us
to know and believe that Jesus truly was divine, truly was God made incarnate
(human/in-the-flesh), a God who in person walked among us, taught us everything
important— and then completed the greatest sacrifice ever made on behalf of the
human family.
The entire Gospel of John is a step-by-step revelation
of the glory of God’s Son, who comes to reveal the Father to us and then return
in glory to the Father. We for our part are called to share this faith in the
Risen Lord by how we live our lives.
Let us pray to the Lord for the gift of courage as we
live out our faith and proclaim it with those in our lives. This way we can
live out what John writes in today’s first reading, that we have fellowship
with each other and fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
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