HOMILY – FEAST OF ST. JOHN
Joyful Faith and Communion with the Lord
(1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97; Jn 20:2-8)
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When a bishop is named, the tradition is to have the ordination on a feast day. So strong is that tradition that I, at the insistence of Luigi Venturi, papal nuncio at that time, was ordained on August 29th, the feast of the beheading of John the Baptist!
Today is the feast day of St. John, the beloved disciple. Let us pray we may have that same joyful faith and intimate communion with God St. John experienced.
You may have noticed there is an unusual, deliberate and significant pattern to the liturgical celebrations immediately following Christmas: we move from the birth of Jesus on the 25th, to the martyrdom of Stephen on the 26th (except for this year), to St. John witnessing to the resurrection today, the 27th, and tomorrow it is back to the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. I think the reason is because Incarnation is already Easter, the crib cannot be separated from the Cross, or from the Resurrection, for that matter, as we see today. The birth of Jesus into this world was to “make flesh” the unfathomable love of God for creation and humanity – accomplished especially through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So, what does St. John add to this unfolding mystery? We know John was involved in some of the central events of Jesus’ life, including the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion and the discovery of the Resurrection, as in today’s gospel. He is the “other disciple” Jesus loved and the one to whom Jesus confided the care of his mother Mary. He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles; later he was exiled to the island of Patmos, so he suffered for his faith in Jesus. He is our last link to the apostles, and is said to have died as an elder at Ephesus. John wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Book of Revelation.
John mentions in his Gospel he leaned on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper. Some spiritual writers say that gesture indicates he was listening to the heartbeat of Jesus, as well as looking out at the world from the viewpoint of Jesus, giving him a relationship with Jesus unique among the apostles. He, more than any other, could write with certitude and conviction those heart-warming words, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands.” While others like Peter and Paul were great preachers and thinkers, John’s relationship with Jesus was more emotional, intimate, and based on a felt love. Perhaps that is why Peter asked John, at the Last Supper, to ask Jesus who it was who would betray him, and when Jesus appeared to the Apostles at the Lake of Tiberias, asked what would happen to John.
John’s special relationship with Jesus shows up in his writings, which are also unique among all the writings of the bible. John is more of a mystic, and writes more about the miracles of Jesus, and of love, than all the other writers of the New Testament. He is a theologian of mystery, memory and symbolism, flowing from a long life of reflecting back on his experience of this Jesus of Nazareth, who is also Lord, Saviour and the long-awaited Messiah.
In the first reading today, John describes how Jesus was the Word of eternal life with the Father; that Jesus revealed that eternal life to us; that John saw and heard and touched Jesus; that he now had a deep and profound communion with God the Father, and wanted us to have that same communion with the Father and Jesus as him, so our joy may be complete.
The Gospel treats us to the drama, and the profound significance, of the empty tomb announced to the apostles by Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the apostles. The urgency and excitement are captured by the verb “running” – Mary runs from the tomb, Peter runs to the tomb, John outruns Peter but respectfully waits for him at the tomb after “bending down to look in.” They both “went into the tomb” and saw the linen wrappings lying there.
To participate in this momentous event ourselves, we are also invited to go into the tomb, to make that inner journey into our own sin, failures, mistakes, our painful emotions, defects of character and addictions. We are to face reality, accept that reality, and deal with the reality by coming to the Risen Lord and Messiah for his forgiveness and healing. And then we are to come out of our own spiritual and personal tombs, leaving behind the “linen cloths,” the sin that has burdened us and the defects of character that have bedevilled us all our lives, into the very “eternal life” that has been revealed to us, that is an intimate communion with the Father and the Son. That is truly the source of our joy.
The gospel portrays John as the one who is the first to truly believe. What did he believe? It is as if his special relationship to Jesus disposes him to understand more quickly than even St. Peter what had happened to Jesus, that he had truly risen from the dead, and what that means for us in terms of new life, eternal life, the very life of God in heaven that Jesus wants to share with us now.
Again, one of the best ways to cultivate that relationship with Jesus is Lectio Divina, contemplative prayer. In that ancient method of prayer, we prayerfully read the Word of God, then meditate on it, pondering it, studying it, asking ourselves what God is saying to us through that Word in our life today. We then have an intimate conversation with Jesus about that Word, and pray with those words for our needs and the needs of the world. Finally, we set it all aside and enter into the prayer of presence, like John, listening to the heart beat of the Jesus and the Father, attentive to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit within us.
Psalm 97, fittingly chosen for today’s celebration, proclaims, “Let the just rejoice in the Lord.” There is joy for the upright in heart, for in them, the mountains of sin and sinfulness have melted like wax before the Lord. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudate Sunday because of its emphasis on joy. This day, perhaps, should be called a post-Christmas Gaudate Day, because of its emphasis on joy, a joy freely offered to all who like, John, enter the tomb and believe.
John is the one who has the Bread of Life discourse instead of the Institution of the Eucharist. For John, the Eucharist is our daily manna nourishing us today as God fed God’s people in their desert wanderings. It is probable that John’s community, more so than the others, celebrated the Eucharist everyday – the practice of most religious congregations. It is our intimate meal with the Lord and how privileged are those who can celebrate it daily.
So, as we celebrate this feast of St. John, the beloved disciple, let us pray we may have that same joyful faith and special communion with Jesus that John mentions in the first reading, through the Word of God, through the Eucharist, and our belonging within the Church, the people of God, that begins with our baptism.
