Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
“We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.” (1 John 1:4)
There is great joy in knowing that peace has come to us. And Christ wants us to labor with Him in sharing that joy! When we have let peace look upon us, what should we do when we see those who long for peace but have not found it? Who are still looking for where or upon whom to gaze and be gazed upon and so receive true peace? We should announce Christ! Such is what Saint John does in his letter that we read from in the days after Christmas. And in that proclamation, John found complete joy.
John had not always had the grasp on the Word which he shared in the Gospel and the letter we hear from today. The apostles, like us, take time to understand the Word we are to share. The Gospel today closes with the moment when the apostle (Saint John) who entered the tomb of the Risen Lord with Saint Peter “saw and believed.” But at that moment, what he believed was Saint Mary Magdalene’s guess that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. They needed to continue to look, before they would see the Risen Christ, the Word who had been seen them. Let us ask Saint John to pray for us, that like Him we may continue to offer our looking and our listening and our whole self to the Lord, so that we may perceive His peaceful and loving gaze upon us. Then may we share that peace with others and so find the joy which filled this apostle and evangelist.