Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist
(I John 1:1-4; John 20:1a.2-8)
Some humans, blinded as the race is by sin, may think it only
natural that God became one of us. After
all, they would argue, Jesus is not the only human to stand out through the
centuries. Others, like Socrates,
outshine the rest by a whole lot.
Others, also blinded by sin, think the opposite. They would say for God to take on the limits
of humanity would be like putting a mountain into a shoebox. Such is the incarnation
we are given to contemplate on these days of the octave of Christmas.
The works of the evangelist John enlighten our task. Today’s first reading likely comes from a
disciple of the evangelist. It testifies
beyond doubt that the Son was with the Father before he came as human in
history. He is the source of human
solidarity more efficacious than the likeness of our genomes.
The “disciple whom Jesus loved” of today’s gospel was likely
the source of the evangelist’s information about Jesus. He shows us that faith is necessary to accept
both Jesus’ divinity and his resurrection from the dead. But we may ask, “Why believe?” More than
providing a basis for peace on earth, more than even promising eternal life, we
believe in Christ because the Lord God bids us to. We, His servants, do what He commands.
