We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
What is the meaning of Christianity? Why is it so important to change our lives and be more like the son of God and less like ourselves? What is heaven … and why do we want to go there?
Around this Christmas season dinner tables, these topics of conversation no doubt arise in many homes. Often sources of great comfort, love and hope, they can also be the source of great divisions among brothers and sisters, moms and dads.
Indeed, a faith that we all hope will one day unite the world, often divides it instead.
Today, in this Holy season of Christmas, we honor St. John the Evangelist, an apostle and prolific writer who dedicated his ministry to first understanding the meaning of Christ and His mission; and then to sharing that meaning with others.
We should all be like John.
The opening sentence to this reflection can be considered a motto for all of the writers of this website of daily scripture reflections. We write because we must.
It is also a motto for our priests and deacons who write their homilies and weekly bulletin reflections; our theologians who write books; college professors, high school teachers and all of the lay people who work in church ministry.
We write. We speak. We evangelize.
We do this not for our own benefit, but so that our joy may be complete.
Ask any writer …
It’s great to learn by reading books, magazines, newspapers and good websites … but there is little satisfaction in learning until we can share what we’ve learned with others.
It’s similar to receiving the Eucharist at Mass. You only get “half” the power and graces of God when you take him into your own body. You get the rest when you “give it away” to others by your words, actions and deeds.
John understood this.
You can tell by reading his unique Gospel in the New Testament. It is unlike any of the other three Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke, the trio of stories that we refer to as the “synoptics” because they are largely the same.
John was known as the “beloved apostle,” the baby of the bunch, the one that “Jesus loved.” No doubt he had his own experiences and the wisdom of his older brothers to help inspire him to write about the meaning of Christ in a much deeper way – a much more literary and symbolic way.
The Church teaches us that John’s Gospel is the “product of a developed theological reflection.”
Is that not what we do here?
In our daily reflections, we try to draw on our own life experiences, mixed in with our study of Church teaching and the lives of the saints, to develop our own takes on theology and the readings of the day.
And isn’t that what everyone does?
Think about your children. They can ask pretty tough questions at times, but isn’t it true that no matter the topic, you (as an adult) have already experienced the matter that is so troubling to them? Do we not all draw on our experiences to help guide our children?
John serves as the perfect model for this.
The stories and narratives he tells – and the way that he tells them – show us that he was less concerned about the details of each event and more concerned with their significance and meaning. He interprets them for his readers by using reflections, narratives and discourses.
In today’s gospel, John’s actions while he is running toward the empty tomb where they had placed the body of Jesus are quite telling.
He runs alongside Peter (the rock, the church) and even surpassed him in speed. But he does not enter the tomb right away. He waits. He allows Peter to go first.
John stayed back … he pondered what was happening. While Peter was literally looking for the body of Jesus, John was no doubt already thinking what this meant and what it will mean for generations to come.
That is the kind of mindset we should all have as we read scripture.
It’s great to be able to cite chapter and verse, to know the names, the dates and the facts contained in the pages of the Old and New testaments.
But it’s much more important to work on weaving those facts together … learn the stories of our faith and to embrace the richness of the great biblical characters and the meaning of the things they did and said.
It’s important to remember, too, that this great story of our faith, our culture and our people is a story that continues today. It does not end on the last page of Revelations.
This is an old lesson that for many goes back to elementary school … but one worth repeating on this day of honor for John the Evangelist.
God is not found in the pages of our bibles alone.
His Word lives on in the hearts, minds and reflections of all of us who share this faith, hope and love with others.
Whether we write reflections, post uplifting comments on social media or simply have a cup of coffee with a friend who has questions.
We do this so that “our joy may be complete.”
Day unto day takes up the story … and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
Yet their span extends through all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
(Psalm 19)
