He Saw and Believed

December 27, 2008

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist

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. 1 John 1:3-4

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. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. John 20:4-5, 8

Piety

Jesus, let us come to see you through our sisters and brothers with our own eyes.
Jesus, let us hear your Gospel with our own ears through the cries of the poor.
Jesus, let us taste your goodness in the Eucharist of life with our own mouths.
Jesus, let us touch you as we reach out to lift up those around us who have fallen.
Jesus, let us smell you in the flowers of the season decorating your Earth.
Help us to find the ways and means to share the joy of you with others. Amen.

Study

How do we get to know something? Maybe we read something about it. Maybe we hear about it. These are second hand ways of knowing – what the lawyers among us would call “hearsay.” However, when we are first-hand witnesses to something our experience is more direct. Maybe we encounter it personally through our senses (seeing, touching, tasting, hearing, and/or smelling). Have you ever been an eyewitness to a car crash? Have ever been called to testify at a trial? When you go outside during the winter months, can you smell your neighbors burning wood in their fireplace? Have you ever gotten hands-on career experience like an internship or a fellowship?

St. John had a graduate level seminar in Jesusology. The admissions officer called him away from his current position (fishing with his father and brother James) and asked him to follow along. John obeyed. John was there as a firsthand witness to all of Jesus’ miracles from the curing of Jarius’ daughter to the Transfiguration. I imagine he also tasted the wine in Cana and the precious blood at the Last Supper. John was with Jesus in Gethsemane. John remained at the foot of the cross and inherited the care and love Jesus’ blessed virgin mother Mary. John was the only one of the original twelve disciples to die a natural death in old age. He tasted the breakfast of smoked fish on the side of the Lake after the Resurrection. Consider the Psalm “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” St. John can say with authority, “Been there. Done that.”

After his life experiences and fellowship with his friend, John is the first person to see the burial clothes on the floor of the tomb. He saw them. Maybe for St. John, that moment was his Epiphany -- the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of Jesus’ life and all that he had witnessed. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. John 20:8. In a nanosecond, all that he experiences with Jesus from the lakefront in Genesareth to the garden in Gethsemane came into focus.

John did NOT stop there with the moment of his great “Ah ha!” While he had joy with this revelation, his joy would not be complete unless he shared it. 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. 1 John 1:3-4

Action

We are still basking in the glow of the Christmas season and in this second day, the Church has us turn our attention from the martyrdom of St. Stephen to the evangelization of St. John the Apostle. If the first lesson of Christianity is the humbling of our glorious God into the body of a frail, crying baby in a cave, then the next two lessons are in sharing the suffering of the cross and proclaiming God’s Good News today.

Before we can share the Gospel, we have to have it in our heart. The Gospels give us no reason to think that the spirit did not leap out of Jesus breast and into the heart of the disciple Jesus loved most at the Last Supper. John has always been there in places where Jesus asked him to follow. John ascended above all other writers in the New Testament. Because of the beauty and heights of his prose, John is symbolically depicted by an eagle among the other evangelists. From such a close and special relationship with Jesus, the Church places his feast day only two days after Christmas.

Credo…”I Believe.” Think about each line of the Creed that we recite as a community each Sunday in Mass or the Apostle’s Creed used when we begin meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Can we say we have firsthand knowledge of each line of this prayer? Do we know this personally like St. John knew Jesus?

Meditate on something that you personally know. Maybe you can choose a flower or a tree. Maybe you can choose a person or place. What does that item tell you about Jesus? What Epiphany does it lead you to? Share your joy with the community in your group reunion, diocesan Ultreya or parish Ultreya.

Consider this for a New Year resolution: share your joy with the Cursillo community. Select a date and write your reflections about Piety, Study and Action on the daily readings which can be posted and shared with the community on Your Daily Tripod. Contact the Lighthouse Keeper and check a date to see if it is available. Even if you just want to write once the format is pretty simple. Then your joy will be complete.