EVANGELIO DEL DÍA

domingo, 26 de diciembre de 2010

The disciple who had« fully assured understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God » (Col 2,3)

DAILY GOSPEL: 27/12/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68


Saint John, apostle and evangelist - Feast


First Letter of John 1:1-4.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life--
for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us--
what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

Psalms 97(96):1-2.5-6.11-12.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.
Cloud and darkness surround the Lord; justice and right are the foundation of his throne.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim God's justice; all peoples see his glory.
Light dawns for the just; gladness, for the honest of heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, you just, and praise his holy name.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 20:2-8.
So she 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."
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.
 Jn 20,2-8
Commentary of the day 
Rupert of Deutz (c.1075-1130), Benedictine monk
The Works of the Holy Spirit, IV, 10 (cf SC 165, p. 165)
The disciple who had« fully assured understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God » (Col 2,3)
In proportion to that grace that caused Jesus to love him and allowed him to lean on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper (Jn 13,23), John abundantly received understanding and wisdom [gifts of the Spirit] (Is 11,2) – understanding to grasp the Scriptures; wisdom to compose his own books with wonderful skill. In actual fact he did not receive this gift from the exact moment he leaned on the Lord's breast, even if he could afterwards draw from that heart «in which lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge» (Col 2,3). When it says that, on entering the tomb, «he saw and he believed», it recognises that «they did not yet know the Scripture» and that «Jesus had to rise from the dead» (Jn 20,9). Like the other apostles, John received his full measure at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and when grace was given to each one «according to the measure of Christ's gift» (Eph 4,7)...

Our Lord Jesus loved this disciple more that all the others... and opened the secrets of heaven to him... to make of him the author of that deep mystery of which no one can speak by himself: the mystery of the Word of God, the Word made flesh. However, even if he loved him, yet it was not to him that Jesus said: «You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church» (Mt 16,18)... While loving all his disciples and especially Peter with a love in spirit and soul, our Lord loved John with a heart's love... According to the order of apostolate, Simon Peter was given the first place and «the keys of the kingdom of heaven» (Mt 16,19). But John obtained a different inheritance: the spirit of understanding, «a treasure of joy and gladness « (Sir 15,6).


Monday, 27 December 2010

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Feast)



SAINT JOHN 
Apostle and Evangelist
(† c. 100)
Feast
        St. John, the youngest of the apostles in age, was son of Zebedee. He was called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan during the first days of Our Lord's ministry. He was one of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration (with Peter and James) and the Agony in the garden.
        At the Last Supper his head rested on the bosom of Jesus, and in the hours of the Passion, when others fled or denied their Master, St. John kept his place by the side of Jesus, and at the last stood by the cross with Mary. From the cross the dying Saviour bequeathed his Mother to the care of the faithful apostle, who "from that hour took her to his own;" thus fitly, as St. Austin says, "to a virgin was the Virgin intrusted."
        After the Ascension, St. John lived first at Jerusalem, and then at Ephesus. He was thrown by Domitian into a caldron of boiling oil, and is thus reckoned a martyr, though miraculously preserved from hurt.
        Afterwards he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he received the heavenly visions described in tine Apocalypse. He is the author of the Fourth Gospel, the Apocalypse, and three Epistles.
        He died at a great age, in peace, at Ephesus, about the year 100.

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