December 27th - St. John the Divine, Apostle and Evangelist (RM)
Born in Galilee, c. 6 AD; died c. 104; feast day in the Eastern Church is
September 26. John, the "beloved disciple" of our Lord (John 13:23; 19:26;
20:2ff; 21:7; 21:24), is said to have written the Book of Revelation, the
last book of the Bible, while exiled on the island of Patmos off the coast
of modern Turkey. His book is a superb conclusion to the Holy Scripture.
The
book of Genesis begins the account of man's spiritual odyssey by
describing
our expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The Book of Revelation is a vision
of
encouragement to await our restoration to Paradise.
John was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the younger brother of James
the
Great. These two brothers earned their livelihood as fishermen on Lake
Genesareth until they were called by Jesus to be fishers of men (Matt.
4:21-22; Mark 1:19-20). The youngest of the Apostles (estimated at about
25
at the time of his call), John, seems to have been a follower of John the
Baptist, so particularly does he relate all the circumstances of the
precursor's life, yet through modesty conceals his own name, as in other
parts of the Gospel bearing his name.
Christ gave James and John the surname of "Boanerges"-The Sons of Thunder
(Mark 3:17)-to express their passionate natures. They wanted to call down
fire from Heaven on the Samaritans who rejected Christ (Luke 9:54-56) and
they said they were willing to suffer as witnesses to Jesus' suffering
(Mark
10:35-41). This holy boldness would benefit the faith by allowing them to
make the law of God known without fearing the power of men.
Why was John beloved of Christ? First, the love that John bore Him, then
his
general meekness and peaceable disposition that made him very much like
Our
Lord himself, and his singular privilege of chastity, his virginal purity
rendered him worthy of this more particular love.
Saint Augustine says, "He was chosen by our Lord, a virgin, and he always
remained such." Augustine also wrote, "Christ was pleased to choose a
virgin
for his mother, a virgin for his precursor, and a virgin for his favorite
disciple. His church suffers only those who live perfectly chaste to serve
Him in His priesthood, where they daily touch and offer His virginal flesh
upon the altar."
That John was one of those closest to Jesus is demonstrated by the fact
that
only he, Peter, and James were present at such events as the
Transfiguration
(Matt. 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28), the healing of Peter's mother-in-law
(Mark 1:29-31), the raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead (Mark
5:22-43; Luke 8:40-56), and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt.
26:37ff; Mark 14:33ff). For this reason, Saint Paul names John, Peter, and
James as "these leaders, these pillars" of the Church in Jerusalem (Gal.
2:9).
He and Peter were sent to prepare the Passover (Luke 22:8ff) and were the
first Apostles at the tomb of the Risen Christ (John 20:3- 8). At the Last
Supper, he leaned upon his Master's breast. John was the only Apostle at
the
Crucifixion, where Jesus entrusted His mother to the care of His friend
(John 19:25-27). He was at the court because he was known to the
high-priest, and, as he tells us, he managed to get Saint Peter admitted
by
the servants into the Court of Caiphas (John 18:15-16). Later, when
Christ
appeared to them on the lake and ate with them upon the shore John, by
instinct, knew who it was and gave word to Peter (John 21:7). Together
they
walked along the edge of the lake. Seeing John following, Peter being
solicitous for his friend asked our Lord what would now become of him,
thinking perhaps He would show him some special favor. "What is that to
thee?" our Lord asked: "So I will have him to remain until I come; follow
thou me." The supposition arose among the disciples that John would not
die,
but he himself took care to tell us that no such thing was meant (John
21:20-23). He lived for about 70 years after the death of Jesus. For much
of
that time John continued to be associated with the chief of the Apostles,
Saint Peter. The two are together when the lame man is healed at the
Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:1-11). He was imprisoned with Peter and appeared
before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1-21). He accompanied Peter to Samaria (Acts
8:14) to transmit the Holy Spirit to the new converts. John must have
remained in Jerusalem a number of years after Jesus' Ascension, though he
sometimes preached abroad, for Saint Paul some years after his conversion
met him there and John confirmed him in his mission to the Gentiles. He
probably assisted at the Council of Jerusalem c. 49-51.
Tradition says that his apostolic labors were first to the Jews in the
provinces of Parthia, where he planted the Christian faith. In all
probability, John was present at the passing of Mary. He came again to
Jerusalem in the year 62, to confer with the other apostles who were still
living. After this he went to Ephesus and made Lesser Asia his peculiar
care, where he established churches and governed the congregations.
His apostolic authority was universal, for though Saint Timothy remained
Bishop of Ephesus, until his martyrdom in 97, there was no difference
between them on account of jurisdiction. It is probable that he put
bishops
in all the churches in Asia, for while the apostles lived, they supplied
the
churches by their own appointments, in virtue of their commission from
Christ himself.
A beautiful story about John is handed down to us by Saint Clement of
Alexandria. Near the end of his life, having returned to Ephesus from
Patmos, at one place Saint John chose a young man for the priesthood, whom
he was much taken with. He left him in charge of a tutor, to be
instructed,
baptized, and confirmed. On his return to the same place some time
afterward
he said to the tutor: "Restore to me the trust which Jesus Christ and I
committed to you in the presence of your congregation." "Alas," they said,
"he is dead." "Dead? Of what did he die?" inquired the saint. "He is dead
to
God," they replied.
After his instruction and baptism he fell into bad company, sank from one
degree of wickedness to another, forsook the Church, even became the
leader
of a robber-band. John pursued him in his mountain fastness and coming up
with him implored him, saying, "There is yet room for repentance; your
salvation is not irrecoverable. I will answer for you to Jesus Christ. I
am
ready most willingly to lay down my life for you, as Jesus laid down his
life for all men. Stay, believe me, I am sent by Christ."
The young neophyte stood still, his eyes cast upon the ground and he burst
into tears. He embraced his tender father and implored forgiveness. He
found
a second baptism in his tears. The saint kissed him affectionately and
restored him by the holy Sacraments to God and to the Church. This great
vein of charity runs through the whole life and writings of Saint John; it
is the great and peculiar law of the Christian faith, without which all
pretensions to a divine religion would be vain and worthless.
Another story tells of the shock of some visitors finding John playing
with
his disciples. He told one of the visitors, who was carrying a bow, to
shoot
an arrow. The visitor complied by shooting several. John then asked him if
he could do that without stopping. No, the other answered, the bow would
break. That's the way our spirit is, the blessed one concluded: it would
break if one did not sometimes relax the tension. In daily life, games and
pranks allow the spirit to rest. One must know how to pause: that is the
role of games (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Question 169, Article 10, Summa
Theologica).
Other anecdotes are recorded, such as John's fear that the baths at which
the heretic Cerinthus was bathing would fall down because he was in them.
Other traditions have influenced artistic representations of the saint.
In the year 95, during the second general persecution under Emperor
Domitian, John was apprehended in Asia and sent to Rome as a prisoner,
where
he miraculously escaped martyrdom. Tertullian says that he emerged
unscathed
from a cauldron of boiling oil. His persecutors attributed the miracle to
sorcery and he was exiled to the island of Patmos. Until its removal from
the Roman calendar in 1960, this event used to be commemorated
liturgically
in the Western Church on May 6, as the Feast of Saint John before the
Latin
Gate (ante Portam Latinam). On account of this trial he is given also the
title martyr, although he was the only Apostle who did not suffer
martyrdom.
He did, however, thus fulfill what Christ had foretold that he should
drink
of his chalice of suffering.
In the following year he was banished to the island of Patmos, where in
this
retirement, in his extreme old age, he was favored with the heavenly
vision
recorded in the Book of Revelation (this is the legend, folks). His exile
was not of long duration, for at the death of Domitian, all his edicts
were
declared void by the senate because of his excessive cruelty.
John was free to return and he reached Ephesus again in 97. Some think
that
he wrote his Gospel on his return, when he was 92 years old. The tradition
that identifies John as the author of the Fourth Gospel goes back to the
2nd
century. It is certain, thanks to the discovery of the Chester-Beatty
fragment, that it was committed to writing by the beginning of the 2nd
century, or earlier. Though his authorship is disputed, it is strongly
supported by internal and external reasons. There seems to be no
compelling
reason for rejecting the identification of John with the beloved disciple
of
the Gospel who was a witness to the events described. Written later than
the
Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John is highly theological and stresses
the
divinity of Christ, possibly as a counter to the Docetist heresy.
The Book of Revelation, also ascribed to him, is so different in thought,
style, and content from the genuine Johannine writings that it seems more
likely to have been the product of John's followers.
When weakness grew upon him and he was no longer able to preach, he would
be
carried into the assembly of the faithful. Constantly he was heard to say:
"My dear children, love one another"-and when asked why he so often
repeated
the same words, he said, "Because it is the precept of the Lord and if you
comply with it you do enough." Saint Jerome says: "These words ought to be
engraved in characters of gold and written in the heart of every
Christian."
Saint John died at Ephesus when he was over 90 years old (Attwater,
Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Green-Armytage,
Lawrie, Murray, White).
Saint Quote
Every time that God converts a hardened sinner he is working a far greater
miracle.
-Saint John Regis
Bible Quote:
If you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you shall not
know at what hour I shall come upon you. Apoc 3:3
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Mary and Joseph Prayer:
O Jesus, Lamb of God, may the prayers of Mary and
Joseph help us to stay close to you all the days of our lives,
growing ever deeper in our understanding and
appreciation of what you have done and will continue to do
for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
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