Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 27, 2007 - St. John the Evangelist and Apostle
[1 John 1:1-4 and John 20: 1A, 2-8]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........
The name of the apostle John is associated with some of the most eloquent and dramatic scripture in the New Testament. Even when Jesus is made to seem abstract and repetitious by the discourses given to him in the Johannine gospel or the author seems like that in the letters, the poetic and profound meaning of Jesus and his message comes through. Since this literature is later than the Pauline letters and Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), it represents the product of a longer reflection by the early Christian community (which was much more scattered by the time the Johannine literature was put into writing). This reflection continues to inspire and challenge the mind and heart. The senses are engaged in the passage quoted above: seeing, hearing, touching! All of these are very much part of the gospel of John where sight is equivalent to faith, and hearing is engaged by discourses on the Bread of Life, and touch is challenged when Thomas is invited to place his hand in the wounds of Christ. We are challenged to hear that Word of eternal life, see its possibility for ourselves and neighbor and to "put skin on it" in loving one another. The crib scenes may be halfway to the attic by now, but the Word of God cannot be put away till the next Christmas celebration. We must testify to what we have seen and heard! AMEN
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