Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 27, 2022
On the first day of the week,
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 do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
Just two days after experiencing the birth of Jesus in the narrative of the Nativity, we quickly step ahead to the resurrection narrative in the Gospel of John on Easter morning.
In this passage, Saint John is referred to as the “other disciple whom Jesus loved.” We also see a similar term used to describe John standing at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. The phrase also appears in other instances in John’s Gospel.
This description makes me think of Saint John as a humble person that always wanted to be there for Jesus, in times of suffering and rejoicing. He did not need his name in the spotlight necessarily, but perhaps wanted to remind readers in a subtle way that he was always by Christ’s side in the times he needed him the most.
Who are those people in our lives that we know we can count on to be there for us, no matter what the situation? Spouses, parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, or mentors may come to mind. We can also serve in that role of the “disciple whom Jesus loved” by being at the side of others when they need us the most, and doing so with humility, the way John did for Jesus.
Prayer
Upon seeing the empty tomb, John, the Beloved Disciple, believed. Almighty Father, we ask that you may continue to bless us, who have not seen yet still believe. When faith is hard to comprehend, may this be our simple prayer, “Lord, help my unbelief.” Amen.
Saint of the Day
John is known in Scripture as being Jesus’ beloved disciple. Jesus called John along with his brother, James, as they were mending their nets near the Sea of Galilee. He called the two brothers “sons of thunder.”
John was the youngest of all the disciples, and it is believed he outlived the others. He was the only one who is known to not have suffered martyrdom—he died when he was in his 90s.
John, represented in today's featured image by a stained glass window from the chapel in St. Edward's Hall, was present at most of the important moments of Jesus’ life—the transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane before Jesus was arrested, for example. In the story of the Last Supper, John leans on the breast of Jesus to ask who would betray him. Of all the disciples, he remained with Mary at the foot of the cross, and before he died, Jesus handed over care for his mother to John.
John eventually settled in Ephesus among the Christian community there. His biography indicates that he was arrested, tried in Rome, and banished to the island of Patmos, where he received visions and dreams that he recorded in the Book of Revelation.
After the emperor’s death, John returned to Ephesus, where the Church's tradition holds that he wrote his Gospel. John’s Gospel is entirely different from those of Mark, Luke, and Matthew—it presents Jesus with great authority, radiating divinity throughout. For his soaring theology, John is represented by the symbol of an eagle (depicted below in stained glass from the chapel in Morrissey Hall). He also wrote three letters that are part of our New Testament.
It is said that when John was too old to preach to the Christians at Ephesus, he was brought before the congregation and would simply say, “My little children, love one another.” When asked why he always repeated these words, he would reply, “Because it is the word of the Lord, and if you keep it, you do enough.”
Several pieces of St. John's relics are kept in the reliquary of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus, including a piece of his tomb. The chapel in Farley Hall, a women's residential hall on campus, is named after him. Croatian artist Ivan Mestrovic sculpted a story from John's Gospel of Jesus talking to a Samaritan Woman at the ancient site of Jacob's Well and portrays John and Luke on either side of the main sculpture, which stands in front of O'Shaughnessy Hall on South Quad.
St. John the Evangelist, whose Gospel urges us to love one another because God is love—pray for us!