St John Apostle, and Evangelist : Friday 27th December 2019

The last words of today’s Gospel are as moving as they are significant. John entered the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid. The burial clothes were there, neatly arranged. He “saw and believed.” He saw and believed without fuss and excitement even after a tumultuous three days during which his master and friend had been arrested, humiliated, scourged and crucified. He saw his fellow disciples shocked into fearful denial or bewildered silence. Despite all, he believed without long discussion and reflection.

In the first reading the word “see” is repeated three times in four verses. In different ways John tells us that he and the disciples had seen “the Word of life”. Obviously there can be degrees of seeing and believing. It would be a worthwhile exercise to go through John’s Gospel and note how often the word “see” occurs in relation to Jesus and his actions and then reflect on how people reacted to what they had seen.

Could it be said that John was at the very believing heart of the group which formed around Jesus?

Maybe John’s loving and almost instinctive faith provided a steady, human support to his fellow disciples in those crucial hours of late Thursday, Friday and Saturday and enabled them to emerge as confident and competent founders of the Church in Jerusalem and Judea and beyond.

Heavenly Father, grant me a faith which will enable me to show Your Son to the world.