27 Dec – Feast of St. John, apostle, evangelist
St. John, also known as the “beloved disciple” of Jesus’ was the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of St. James the Great, and was called one of the Sons of Thunder. Before becoming Jesus’ disciple, he was already a disciple of St. John the Baptist, and a friend of St. Peter the Apostle. He was called by Jesus during the first year of Christ’s ministry, and travelled everywhere with him. He took part in the Last Supper, and was the only one of the Twelve not to forsake the Saviour in the hour of his Passion, standing at the foot of the cross.
He was made guardian of Our Lady by Jesus, and he took her into his home. Upon hearing of the Resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb; when he met the risen Lord at the Lake of Tiberius, he was the first to recognise him.
During the era of the new Church, he worked in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. During Jesus’ ministry, he tried to block a Samaritan from their group, but Jesus explained the open nature of the new Way, and he worked on that principle to found churches in Asia Minor and baptising converts in Samaria. He was imprisoned with Peter for preaching after Pentecost. He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles, and possibly the Book of Revelation.
- Patron Saint Index
___________________
1 John 1:1-4
Something which has existed since the beginning,
that we have heard,
and we have seen with our own eyes;
that we have watched
and touched with our hands:
the Word, who is life -
this is our subject.
That life was made visible:
we saw it and we are giving our testimony,
telling you of the eternal life
which was with the Father and has been made visible to us.
What we have seen and heard
we are telling you
so that you too may be in union with us,
as we are in union with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ.
We are writing this to you to make our own joy complete.
___________________
John 20:2-8
On the first day of the week Mary of Magdala came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’
So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
____________________
My brothers and sisters, a blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones! May the Lord continue to walk with you and hey, DANCE with you too!
Christmas is a time of many things. It is a time of merrymaking, feasting and partying with our friends and family. It is a time of looking back at the previous year and forward to the new year. It is a time when the Gloria is sung again after the Advent period. Most importantly though, it is a time of miracles.
During the Christmas season we remember and celebrate the miraculous birth of Christ by a virgin. As we commemorate His coming among us, we also recognize the reason for which He was born. That reason is to die on the cross to save us from our sins.
As is depicted in today’s Gospel passage, following that death came His triumph and resurrection in which we have a share in. It is apt by the way that we celebrate the feast of St John. He was the only apostle to not be have been martyred and to have lived to old age. That is something miraculous in itself.
My friends and old readers of OXYGEN would know that since 2002, I have experienced personal miracles each Christmas season (to go into detail about each of them would take too much time). So as I was sitting at the pews in my parish waiting for midnight Mass to begin, I wondered what this year’s would be. I gave up speculating as the hour approached but another thought came to mind. It was how nice it would be for my friends and family if I sent them a Christmas blessing via SMS. I sent one after Mass to over 60 of my friends and relatives.
I realized afterwards that I had not done something like this for the past four years (mass SMSes are expensive as I’m sure you’ll agree). I also realized that some of the folks I SMSed were people I hardly contacted. As can be expected, not everyone replied but those who did sounded really joyful. Some even called back to return the greeting. Knowing that I sent them a heartfelt blessing and witnessing their happiness at receiving it filled me with joy likewise. There it was then, my Christmas miracle for 2007.
The crux of the matter is that all of us can experience personal miracles. That is how the Lord reaches out to each of us. He does so individually, in ways that best suit every person. We receive these miracles from Christ as gifts and some gifts are meant to be shared out. A gift of chocolate or wine given to one person can bring him/her joy. How much more can that joy be increased in that person and delivered to others when the gift is shared out among friends and/or family?
It is as John writes in the first reading. We share Christ so as to make our own joy complete. We share so that others, like John in the Gospel, may come “see and believe”. My sisters and brothers, as we continue in this joyous season, let us be the Christmas miracles to others in our lives.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
____________________
Prayer:
That all will experience the hope, love, joy and peace of the Lord in this season and always!
Give thanks to the Lord For: Wonders
Upcoming Readings:
Fri, 28 Dec – 1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Matthew 2:13-18; Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Sat, 29 Dec – 1 John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35; Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Sun, 30 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
————————
To subscribe to this mailing list, send a blank e-mail to this address:
Godismyoxygen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe to this mailing list, send a blank e-mail to this address:
Godismyoxygen-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
————————
