Saint John, Apostle, Evangelist

That we have heard and seen

John 20:2-8 

There are many themes that St. John proposed in his writings.  But all these are to strengthen develop the faith given to us by Jesus.  I would like to mention three of them:

First, love

Jesus said, "I give you a new command: "Love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13: 34)  and in John 15: 3: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Love is the most supreme virtue one can live out.  And in 1 John 4: 9: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Second, dichotomies

St. John presents images as light and darkness, faith and unbelief, grace and sin.  There is a choice that he wants us to contemplate on based on the words and actions of Jesus, "And they believed."  May we sin ourselves confronting these choices and choosing the better one.

Third, the Church

I would like to dwell on the first reading: "Something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands:
the Word, who is life – this is our subject."  Furthermore, "we saw it and we are giving our testimony."  This demands a radical outlook on our faith as a concrete manifestation of the presence of God through our actions.

May we take this memorial of St. John as an opportunity to further incarnate Jesus in our personal and ecclesial lives.

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