Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-27-05, Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

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St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Mary's House — Walking in the Footsteps of St. John

Orthodox Feast of The Falling Asleep of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian, September 26

Catholic Caucus: The 16 Days of Christmas (Christmas to the Baptism of the Lord)

Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas [An Underground Catechism]

Origin of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" [Underground Catechism]

From: 1 John 1:1-4

Prologue

[1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our
hands, concerning the word of life--[2] the life was made manifest, and
we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life
which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--[3] that which
we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have
fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son Jesus Christ. [4] And we are writing this that our joy may be
complete.

Commentary:

1-4. Since the time of the Fathers, these verses have been described as
the prologue", like the prologue of the Fourth Gospel (Jn 1:1-18). In
fact, there are many similarities in doctrine, style and even language
between the two.

Both passages sing the praises of the mystery of the Incarnation: the
Word of God who existed from all eternity, "from the beginning", became
man (has been seen, heard, looked upon and touched) so that men might
partake of divine life--might have "fellowship", communion, with the
Father and the Son. Like the Gospel prologue, this one is written in a
rhythmical way--"That which was..., which we have heard..., which we
have seen...". And many of the ideas are the same--for example, the
reference to "the beginning" (cf. Jn 1:1); the term "the Word" to refer
to the second Person of the Blessed Trinity; the reference to "life"
(cf. Jn 1:4).

As St Bede points out, "from the very start of the epistle we are being
taught the divinity and, at the same time, the humanity of our God and
Lord Jesus Christ" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").

1. "That which was from the beginning": although the pronoun used is
neuter--as if to indicate the ineffable character of the mystery of
Christ--the whole phrase refers not to a thing or an abstract teaching,
but to the divine Person of the Son, who in the fullness of time was
made manifest (v. 2), assuming a human nature. In other words, St John,
as in his Gospel, is teaching that Jesus, a historical person (the
Apostles have lived with him, have seen him, have heard him speak) is the
eternal Word of God (cf. Jn 1:1 and note).

"That which we have heard,...seen...": all those references to
perception by the senses show the Apostle's desire to make it clear
that God really did become man. This may be because certain heretics
were denying the Incarnation, or it may simply be that he thought it
necessary to spell out this fundamental truth of our faith. He did so
in the Gospel (cf., e.g., Jn 20:30-31); and in this letter we
frequently find phrases like "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh"
(4:2); "Jesus is the Christ" (2:22; cf. 5:1); "Jesus is the Son of God"
(4:15; cf.5:1, 12,20).

We have recently been reminded that "the Church reverently preserved
the mystery of the Son of God, who was made man, and in the course of
the ages and of the centuries has propounded it for belief in a more
explicit way"; moreover, what the Church teaches "concerning the one
and the same Christ the Son of God, begotten before the ages in his
divine nature and in time in his human nature, and also concerning the
eternal persons of the Most Holy Trinity, belongs to the immutable
truth of the Catholic faith" (SCDF, "Mysterium Filii Dei", 2 and 6).

2. St John introduces this verse by way of parenthesis to explain what
he means by "the word of life". In the Gospel he had written, "In him
[the Word] was life" (Jn 1:4) and elsewhere he records Jesus'
statement, "I am the bread of life" (Jn 6:35, 48). These expressions
declare that the Son of God has life in all its fullness, that is,
divine life, the source of all life, natural and supernatural. Jesus in
fact identified himself with Life (cf. Jn 11:25; 14:6). By the
Incarnation, the Word of God manifests true life and at the same time
makes it possible for that life to be communicated to men--imperfectly,
by means of grace, while they are in this world, and perfectly in
heaven, by means of the beatific vision (cf. 1 Jn 5: 12).

"And we testify to it": the testimony of the Apostles is something
unique in the history of the Church, because (unlike those who succeed
them) they know our Lord personally, they have been "witnesses" of his
life, death and resurrection (cf. Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8).

"With the Father": the Greek implies closeness, difference, and the
mutual relationship between Father and Son, so providing a glimpse of
the mystery of the Blessed Trinity (cf. note on Jn 1:1).

3-4. This testimony about Christ is designed to lead to fellowship and
complete joy. Fellowship with the Apostles (the Greek word is
"koinonia") means, firstly, having the same faith as those who lived
with Jesus: "They saw our Lord in the body," St Augustine reminds us,
"and they heard words from his lips and have proclaimed them to us; we
also have heard them, but we have not seen him [...]. They saw him, we
do not see him, and yet we have fellowship with them, because we have
the same faith" ("In Epist. Ioann. ad Parthos", 1, 3).

To have fellowship with the Father and the Son we need to have the same
faith as the Apostles: "St John openly teaches that those who desire to
partake of union with God must first partake of union with the Church,
learn the same faith and benefit from the same sacraments as the
Apostles received from the fullness of Truth made flesh" (St Bede, "In
I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc."). The Church, the Second Vatican Council
teaches, is not simply a collection of people who think the same way;
it is the people of God "whom Christ established as a communion of
life, love and truth" ("Lumen Gentium", 9).

Fellowship, communion, with the Apostles, with the Church, has as its
purpose to bring about union with God ("with the Father and with his
Son Jesus Christ"); this is a subject St John develops over the course
of this letter, as he previously did in his Gospel (cf., e.g., Jn 17:
20ff). Here he uses expressions such as "to have the Son", and, in
respect of the Son, "to have the Father" (2:23; 5:11ff); "to be in God"
(2:5; 5:20); "to abide in God" (2:6, 24; 3:24; 4:13, 15, 16). This
deep, intimate communion means that, without losing his personality,
man shares in a wonderful and real way in the life of God himself. If
Sacred Scripture uses many different expressions in this connection, it
is due to the fact that the human mind, because it is so limited,
cannot fully grasp the marvelous truth of communion with God.

Complete joy is the outcome of this communion. Most manuscripts say
"our joy"; others, including the Vulgate, say "your joy". The
difference is not important, because "our" involves the Apostles and
the faithful, particularly in view of the mutual fellowship previously
mentioned (cf. Jn 15:11; 17:13). This joy, which will reach its
fullness in the next life, is already in this life in some sense
complete, insofar as knowledge of Jesus is the only thing that can
satisfy man's aspirations.

1:5-2:29. This section describes what communion with God is, and the
demands it makes on us. We can say there are two parts in the section:
the first (1:5 - 2: 11) teaches that communion with God means walking
in the light and, therefore, rejecting sin and keeping the
commandments. The second (2:12-19) warns the readers to guard against
worldly concupiscence and not trust false teachers.

St John is writing as a pastor of souls who has lived the life of the
Lord and reflected deeply upon it. His teaching interweaves truths of
faith with moral and ascetical demands because he wants Christians to
live in a way consistent with their faith. Therefore, the text does not
really divide into a doctrinal section and a moral section.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: John 20:1a, 2-8

The Empty Tomb

[1a] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb
early. [2] So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple,
the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." [3]Peter
then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb.
[4] They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the
tomb first; [5] and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there,
but he did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter came, following him, and
went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, [7] and the napkin,
which had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up
in a place by itself. [8] Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb
first, also went in, and he saw and believed.

Commentary:

1-2. All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and
the disciples regarding Christ's glorious resurrection, beginning with
the fact of the empty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke
24:1-12) and then telling of the various appearances of the risen
Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during
His journeys (Luke 8:1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely
stayed with Him right up to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw
where His body was laid (Luke 23:55). Now, after the obligatory
Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the tomb. The Gospel points out that
she went "early, when it was still dark": her love and veneration led
her to go without delay, to be with our Lord's body.

4. The Fourth Gospel makes it clear that, although the women, and
specifically Mary Magdalene, were the first to reach the tomb, the
Apostles were the first to enter it and see the evidence that Christ
had risen (the empty tomb, the linen clothes "lying" and the napkin in
a place by itself). Bearing witness to this will be an essential
factor in the mission which Christ will entrust to them: "You shall be
My witnesses in Jerusalem...and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8; cf.
Acts 2:32).

John, who reached the tomb first (perhaps because he was the younger),
did not go in, out of deference to Peter. This is an indication that
Peter was already regarded as leader of the Apostles.

5-7. The words the Evangelist uses to describe what Peter and he saw in
the empty tomb convey with vivid realism the impression it made on
them, etching on their memory details which at first sight seem
irrelevant. The whole scene inside the tomb in some way caused them to
intuit that the Lord had risen. Some of the words contained in the
account need further explanation, so terse is the translation.

"The linen clothes lying there": the Greek participle translated as
"lying there" seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened,
deflated, as if they were emptied when the body of Jesus rose and
disappeared--as if it had come out of the clothes and bandages without
their being unrolled, passing right through them (just as later He
entered the Cenacle when the doors were shut). This would explain the
clothes being "fallen", "flat" "lying", which is how the Greek
literally translates, after Jesus' body--which had filled them--left
them. One can readily understand how this would amaze a witness, how
unforgettable the scene would be.

"The napkin...rolled up in a place by itself": the first point to note
is that the napkin, which had been wrapped round the head, was not on
top of the clothes, but placed on one side. The second, even more
surprising thing is that, like the clothes, it was still rolled up but,
unlike the clothes, it still had a certain volume, like a container,
possibly due to the stiffness given it by the ointments: this is what
the Greek participle, here translated as "rolled", seems to indicate.

From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus'
body must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which
transcended the laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body
being reanimated as happened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who
had to be unbound before he could walk (cf. John 11:44).

8-10. As Mary Magdalene had told them, the Lord was not in the tomb;
but the two Apostles realized that there was no question of any
robbery, which was what she thought had happened, because they saw the
special way the clothes and napkin were; they know began to understand
what the Master had so often told them about His death and resurrection
(cf. Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; etc....)

The empty tomb and the other facts were perceptible to the senses; but
the resurrection, even though it had effects that could be tested by
experience, requires faith if it is to be accepted. Christ's
resurrection is a real, historic fact: His body and soul were
re-united. But since His was a glorious resurrection unlike Lazarus',
far beyond our capacity in this life to understand what happened, and
outside the scope of sense experience, a special gift of God is
required--the gift of faith--to know and accept as a certainty this
fact which, while it is historical, is also supernatural. Therefore,
St. Thomas Aquinas can say that "the individual arguments taken alone
are not sufficient proof of Christ's resurrection, but taken together,
in a cumulative way, they manifest it perfectly. Particularly
important in this regard are the spiritual proofs (cf. specially Luke
24:25-27), the angelic testimony (cf. Luke 24:4-7) and Christ's own
post-resurrection word confirmed by miracles (cf. John 3:13; Matthew
16:21; 17:22; 20:18)" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", III, q.
55, a. 6 ad 1).

In addition to Christ's predictions about His passion, death and
resurrection (cf. John 2:19; Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22), the
Old Testament also foretells the glorious victory of the Messiah and,
in some way, His resurrection (cf. Psalm 16:9; Isaiah 52:13; Hosea
6:2). The Apostles begin to grasp the true meaning of Sacred Scripture
after the resurrection, particularly once they receive the Holy Spirit,
who fully enlightens their minds to understand the content of the Word
of God. It is easy to imagine the surprise and elation they all feel
when Peter and John tell them what they have seen in the tomb.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
St. John, Apostle, Evangelist (Feast)

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

1 John 1:1-4
Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
John 20:1-8

Princes sat, and spoke against me: and the wicked persecuted me: help me, O Lord my God, for Thy servant was employed in Thy justifications.

-- Ps. cxviii. 23, 86

Catholic Culture

Collect:
God our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your Word through John the apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to understand the wisdom he taught. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

» Mulled Rosé Punch
» St. John's Wine

Activities:

Prayers:

December 27, 2005

Feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist

Old Calendar: St. John

Today is the third day in the octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates the Feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist. Born in Bethsaida, he was called while mending his nets to follow Jesus. He became the beloved disciple of Jesus. He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse. His passages on the pre-existence of the Word, who by His Incarnation became the light of the world and the life of our souls, are among the finest of the New Testament. He is the evangelist of the divinity of Christ and His fraternal love. With James, his brother, and Simon Peter, he was one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration. At the Last Supper, he leans on the Master's breast. At the foot of the cross, Jesus entrusts His Mother to his care. John's pure life kept him very close to Jesus and Mary in years to come. John was exiled to the island of Patmos under Emperor Domitian.

The Third Day of Christmas

St. John
St. John, the Evangelist, who is styled in the Gospel "the beloved disciple", was a Galilean, son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother to St. James the Greater, both of whom were fishermen. The two were called by Jesus to be disciples as they were mending their nets by the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus showed St. John particular instances of kindness and affection above all the rest. He had the happiness to be present with Peter and James at the Transfiguration of Christ, and was permitted to witness His agony in the Garden. He was allowed to rest on Our Savior's bosom at the Last Supper, and to him Jesus confided the care of His holy Mother as He hung dying on the Cross.

St. John was the only one of the Apostles who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion and Death.

It seems that St. John remained for a long time in Jerusalem, but that his later years were spent at Ephesus, whence he founded many churches in Asia Minor. St. John wrote his Gospel after the other Evangelists, about sixty-three years after the Ascension of Christ; also three Epistles, and the wonderful and mysterious Book of the Apocalypse or Revelation. He was brought to Rome and, according to tradition, was cast into a caldron of boiling oil by order of Emperor Domitian. Like the Three Children in the fiery furnace of Babylon, he was miraculously preserved unhurt.

He was later exiled to the Island of Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse, but afterwards returned to Ephesus.

In his extreme old age he continued to visit the churches of Asia, and St. Jerome relates that when age and weakness grew upon him so that he was no longer able to preach to the people, he would be carried to the assembly of the faithful by his disciples, with great difficulty; and every time said to his flock only these words: "My dear children, love one another".

St. John died in peace at Ephesus in the third year of Trajan (as seems to be gathered from Eusebius' history of the Saint) that is, the hundreth of the Christian era, or the sixty-sixth from the crucifixion of Christ, St. John then being about ninety-four years old, according to St. Epiphanus.

Excerpted from Heavenly Friends, St. Paul Editions

Patron: Against poison; art dealers; authors; bookbinders; booksellers; burns; compositors; editors; engravers; friendships; lithographers; painters; papermakers; poisoning; printers; publishers; tanners; theologians; typesetters; writers; Asia Minor; Taos, New Mexico; Umbria, Italy; diocese of Cleveland, Ohio; diocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Symbols: Cup or chalice and serpent (cup or sorrow foretold by Jesus); eagle rising out of a cauldron (refers to being a martyr of spirit, but not in deed); serpent entwined on a sword; grave; Prester John seated on tomb, with book, orb, and sword; eagle on a closed book; scroll of his Gospel; scroll of the Apocalypse; nimbed eagle; book.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

December 27, 2005

St. John the Apostle

It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother Andrew: Jesus called them; they followed. The absoluteness of their response is indicated by the account. James and John “were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21b-22).

For the three former fishermen—Peter, James and John—that faith was to be rewarded by a special friendship with Jesus. They alone were privileged to be present at the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemane. But John’s friendship was even more special. Tradition assigns to him the Fourth Gospel, although most modern Scripture scholars think it unlikely that the apostle and the evangelist are the same person.

John’s own Gospel refers to him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2), the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, and the one to whom he gave the exquisite honor, as he stood beneath the cross, of caring for his mother. “Woman, behold your son....Behold, your mother” (John 19:26b, 27b).

Because of the depth of his Gospel, John is usually thought of as the eagle of theology, soaring in high regions that other writers did not enter. But the ever-frank Gospels reveal some very human traits. Jesus gave James and John the nickname, “sons of thunder.” While it is difficult to know exactly what this meant, a clue is given in two incidents.

In the first, as Matthew tells it, they (Mark says their mother) asked that they might sit in the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom—one on his right hand, one on his left. When Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he would drink and be baptized with his baptism of pain, they blithely answered, “We can!” Jesus said that they would indeed share his cup, but that sitting at his right hand was not his to give. It was for those to whom it had been reserved by the Father. The other apostles were indignant at the mistaken ambition of the brothers, and Jesus took the occasion to teach them the true nature of authority: “...[W]hoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28).

On another occasion the “sons of thunder” asked Jesus if they should not call down fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans, who would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. But Jesus “turned and rebuked them” (see Luke 9:51-55).

On the first Easter, Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him’” (John 20:2). John recalls, perhaps with a smile, that he and Peter ran side by side, but then “the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:4b). He did not enter, but waited for Peter and let him go in first. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8).

John was with Peter when the first great miracle after the Resurrection took place—the cure of the man crippled from birth—which led to their spending the night in jail together. The mysterious experience of the Resurrection is perhaps best contained in the words of Acts: “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they [the questioners] were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

The evangelist wrote the great Gospel, the letters and the Book of Revelation. His Gospel is a very personal account. He sees the glorious and divine Jesus already in the incidents of his mortal life. At the Last Supper, John’s Jesus speaks as if he were already in heaven. It is the Gospel of Jesus’ glory.

Comment:

It is a long way from being eager to sit on a throne of power or to call down fire from heaven to becoming the man who could write: “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16).

Quote:

A persistent story has it that John's "parishioners" grew tired of his one sermon, which relentlessly emphasized: "Love one another." Whether the story is true or not, it has basis in John's writing. He wrote what may be called a summary of the Bible: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (1 John 4:16).

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Are You As Happy As You’d Like to Be?
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The Feast of St. John, the Apostle

1 John 1:1-4 / John 20:2-8

It is amazing how much of ourselves that we unintentionally reveal in the course of ordinary conversation. Most of us don’t have to talk very long before those who are listening have a fairly good fix on who we are and what we really value, even if our words themselves are intended to convey the exact opposite! Try listening to yourself some time. It can be both delightful and disconcerting.

St. John the Apostle is a case in point. In today’s first reading, he reveals what he’s really about when he explains that he’s writing to his friends about Jesus so that “our own joy may be complete.” In a word, John thinks of his own happiness as something that comes from sharing life and giving it away, not just from grabbing what he can get. And that explains the whole course of his very long life.

So where are you seeking your happiness? Are you finding it? Where have you invested your heart? Where do you invest most of your waking hours? Are you as happy as you’d like to be, or as you think you could be? What does that tell you about the course you’ve charted for yourself?

We’re on the edge of a new year. It’s a good time to ponder our priorities and set them right.

A treatise by St. Augustine

The flesh revealed Life itself

We announce what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have touched with our own hands. Who could touch the Word with his hands unless the Word was made flesh and lived among us?

Now this Word, whose flesh was so real that he could be touched by human hands, began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary’s womb; but he did not begin to exist at that moment. We know this from what John says: What existed from the beginning. Notice how John’s letter bears witness to his Gospel, which you just heard a moment ago: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ’s body itself which was touched by human hands. But consider what comes next: and life itself was revealed. Christ therefore is himself the Word of life.

And how was this life revealed? It existed from the beginning, but was not revealed to men, only to angels, who looked upon it and feasted upon it as their own spiritual bread. But what does Scripture say? Mankind ate the bread of angels.

Life itself was therefore revealed in the flesh. In this way what was visible to the heart alone could become visible also to the eye, and so heal men’s hearts. For the Word is visible to the heart alone, while flesh is visible to bodily eyes as well. We already possessed the means to see the flesh, but we had no means of seeing the Word. The Word was made flesh so that we could see it, to heal the part of us by which we could see the Word.

John continues: And we are witnesses and we proclaim to you that eternal life which was with the Father and has been revealed among us – one might say more simply “revealed to us”.

We proclaim to you what we have heard and seen. Make sure that you grasp the meaning of these words. The disciples saw our Lord in the flesh, face to face; they heard the words he spoke, and in turn they proclaimed the message to us. So we also have heard, although we have not seen.

Are we then less favoured than those who both saw and heard? If that were so, why should John add: so that you too may have fellowship with us? They saw, and we have not seen; yet we have fellowship with them, because we and they share the same faith.

And our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. And we write this to you to make your joy complete – complete in that fellowship, in that love and in that unity.

Happy Third Day of Christmas, S.

The third verse of this carol proclaims today's Resurrection Gospel:

"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"
by Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

1. Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim.
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King!"

2. Christ, by highest heaven adored.
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as Man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Immanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King!"

3. HaiI, the heavenly Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He leaves His throne on high,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King!"

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #94
Text: Luke 2:14
Author: Charles Wesley, 1739, et al.
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, ad.
Tune: "Mendelssohn"
1st Published in: 1840

Thanks, very appropriate.

A Voice in the Desert

Tuesday December 27, 2005 Feast of Saint John

Reading (1 John 1:1-4) Gospel (St. John 20:1a, 2-8)

In the Gospel reading today, we see a situation that we have all experienced to some degree, that is, when something occurs in our lives it gives us insight and understanding so that we can then look back and suddenly all of the pieces start falling into place, and we say, “Oh, that’s what that was all about! Now I understand it.” When Saint John went into the tomb, he saw and he believed–and then he understood–which is why he could then write to us, saying, What we have seen from the beginning, what our eyes have seen, what our ears have heard, what we have looked upon and touched with our hands is the Word that was made visible. He did not have full understanding of Who Jesus was when He was alive; it was only in His death and resurrection that Saint John would be able to understand. This is why also at the beginning of his Gospel he would be able to say, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, because he came to understand through the death and resurrection of Christ.

He had been faithful to Our Lord, was with Him even on Calvary, the only one of the disciples who had been with Jesus right to the very end; yet, at the same time, still not understanding, being there more as a friend who would be supportive rather than as an apostle and as a disciple who was there to learn from his master and to bring the message out into the world. But now that he has understood, he can turn around and say to us, We are writing this so that you too may have fellowship with us, and he also says, so that our joy may be complete. He understood that if he was going to have the joy that Our Lord desires for each one of us, it was only going to be by spreading the word of Jesus Christ, it was only going to be by going beyond himself. It was not just a “me and Jesus” kind of thing. It was not just “I’ll have communion with the Lord over here all by myself.” But he understood that if we were going to have fellowship with the Father and the Son, it was only going to be able to happen in the fullness of the Mystical Body. And so he desired, then, to spread the news about Christ. He understood that the more people understood Jesus, the more they believed and accepted Him, the more people loved our Lord, the more that the joy of each one who already believes would be completed. So too it is with us. Once we have peered into the reality of Christ, into the mystery that has been revealed to us, as Saint John tells us, then we too understand that it is not just a personal thing; but we have to also spread the Gospel, we have to bring Christ to others, and our joy will be complete only when there are more who believe in the Lord, when there are more who love and serve the Lord. That is the example we see in Saint John.

Now we have to understand again, as we look at ourselves, that he was with Jesus every day for three years and he still did not understand until he was able to look into the tomb and see the burial cloths that were there and that Our Lord had resurrected. So as we struggle along in our own faith, we realize that we too have failed somehow to understand even though we have been with the Lord all this time. But as that understanding grows, as the Lord touches our hearts and we can suddenly see the light bulb go on and say, “Now I get it,” then suddenly what we have believed we now begin to understand; the mystery is revealed to us more and more clearly. When that happens, we realize that what we want more than anything is for everyone to know this truth, for everyone to believe, and for everyone to have union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it is only in that that our joy will be complete.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

Jn 20:1-8
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
1	And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre: and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre.	una autem sabbati Maria Magdalene venit mane cum adhuc tenebrae essent ad monumentum et videt lapidem sublatum a monumento
2	She ran therefore and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and saith to them: They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre: and we know not where they have laid him.	cucurrit ergo et venit ad Simonem Petrum et ad alium discipulum quem amabat Iesus et dicit eis tulerunt Dominum de monumento et nescimus ubi posuerunt eum
3	Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple: and they came to the sepulchre.	exiit ergo Petrus et ille alius discipulus et venerunt ad monumentum
4	And they both ran together: and that other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulchre.	currebant autem duo simul et ille alius discipulus praecucurrit citius Petro et venit primus ad monumentum
5	And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying: but yet he went not in.	et cum se inclinasset videt posita linteamina non tamen introivit
6	Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre: and saw the linen cloths lying,	venit ergo Simon Petrus sequens eum et introivit in monumentum et videt linteamina posita
7	And the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place.	et sudarium quod fuerat super caput eius non cum linteaminibus positum sed separatim involutum in unum locum
8	Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw and believed.	tunc ergo introivit et ille discipulus qui venerat primus ad monumentum et vidit et credidit

St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter and St. John at the Empty Tomb
Raoulet d'Orléans (scribe)
Jean Bondol
First Master of the Bible of Jean de Sy
and others (illuminators)
1372
Paris

The Women at the Tomb

Unknown Ottonian
Mainz or Fulda
about 1025 - 1050

I am sorry. It is not the first time that server from the Hague shows the picture once, good enough for me to verify that it will post, and subsequently refuses to send the picture. I will remember for the next time not to use it.

You can probably do a Google search on the miniature attributes as I posted them and take a look, but there is no guarantee the picture will show.

Faith-sharing bump.

Homily of the Day bump.