The Faith Octagon episode 3 Love
On the 27th December commemorate St. John the Apostle in the liturgy of the Church.
If we go to church today, we will hear a Gospel that might surprise us.
Two days ago, we had the first day of Christmas,
we still sing Christmas songs, we can see cribs and mangers everywhere
and today we hear about the resurrection.
Mary Magdalene comes to the Cenacle, where the disciples are hiding in fear of the Jews.
They mourn the death of Lord Jesus and don't know what to do.
She tells them that the grave is empty.
Peter and John then run to the tomb,
go inside
and then something tremendously important happens in St. John's life.
He sees and he believes.
All at once, he believes in the Scripture, believes Jesus and his words about resurrection.
Thus we have the contrast between the joy of ordinary people in the birth of the newborn baby,
the joy of Christmas
and an Easter joy
which is both calmer and deeper.
It is a joy in the shadow of the cross, one with the promise of life and a final victory.
We can see the truth about our spiritual life and our growth in this contrast.
I would like to talk about this by using the example of St. John the Apostle.
To the best of our knowledge, St. John wasn't in the stable, so he didn"t experience joy of Christmas,
but he was certainly fascinated with Jesus and what he had done.
From the Gospel, we learn that John, together with his brother Jacob and St. Peter, were fishermen.
They had a small family business,
but when Jesus passed by and called to them, they immediately left their nets, their father, their boats
and went with Jesus.
If we think for a moment, how great must their fascination been with this teacher from Nazareth,
one which was so great that they left everything they had and went after him.
Later, they would be witness to all of his miracles.
They saw how he taught.
St. John, together with his brother Jacob and St. Peter,
were party to the deepest secrets of Jesus.
They saw his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor when he showed his glory.
They saw him perform miracles, including his greatest ones, such as when he resurrected the daughter of Jair.
They were with him for 3 years
and they must have had a lot of joy, a sense of fascination that they had found the one who they thought was the Messiah.
But they also saw the horrible things that happened.
. They saw his suffering, the death sentence pronounced on their innocent Master.
Although St. John was there, next to the cross,
Church tradition says that only Mary retained her faith in her Son.
All of the Apostles somehow lost their faith, something in them was crushed.
Later, we hear that they locked themselves in the Cenal in fear of the retribution of the Jews and they didn't know what to do.
And then came the events that we can hear about in today's Gospel.
St. John went to the grave,
and something deep within him stirred, he believed.
From a faith which had been full of emotion and fascination,
after his crisis under the cross,
he came to a deeper stage of intimacy with the Lord.
We know this because he remained with the Lord for the rest of his life.
He preached the truth which he had heard from Jesus.
He proclaimed his death but also the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This dynamic is present in our life of faith
but it is also present in people's relationships, in people's love for one another.
Not so long ago, I was talking with a friend from High School
(hi, if you ae reading this!)
and she told me how she had been looking at the photos of her wedding
(because she's now a happy wife and mum)
and she said that at first she was sad
that she saw an infatuation in her and her husband's eyes
which had somehow slipped away after those few years.
But a moment later she realised
that now there was something more.
Now, they had already overcome some difficulties. They knew each other much better.
So now there was a greater relationship, a more mature love.
And she wouldn't change the present love into the previous one.
There is something similar even in our much smaller and simpler affairs, like learning a new language or training for a sport.
Probably we all have such an experience that in the beginning we are very enthusiastic
but sooner or later it stops.
But to develop it truly and get to the next level, we first have to persevere despite all difficulties.
And someday we'll get there
That's how it is with our life of faith and what I would like to invite you to share.
It's good when we rejoice and are fascinated with Jesus.
That's what we need to follow him just like the Apostles did, to leave everything and go after him.
It might happen this Christmas or perhaps during prayer or in another way.
But it's not everything. Our faith cannot be founded upon it,
because if we do, it would be just like infatuation, perhaps pleasant but only at the level of our emotions.
We have to go deeper,
to move from an emotional faith to a more mature one.
This might happen after these initial feelings fade and we'll end up being disappointed.
But if we stay with Jesus,
if we stay with the one who we love,
then someday, with God's grace, we will reach the next and deeper level.
Our faith will be able to become deeper, more mature.
We might go through this process many times during a whole life. But it's worth it.
Because such a mature and deep relationship with Jesus is what we need the most.
It is our deepest desire and the fulfillment of what he prepared for us.
So now, at the end of this episod(e), I would like to... well, I would like...
so today at the end of this episod(e) I would like to wish you
(episodE)
so today at the end of this episode I would like to wish you
and myself
that we could always be open to God's ability to lead us through our difficult situations
and to go deeper and deeper in love and a more mature relationship with our Lord.
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