WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD
When many people think of St.
John, the first thought that comes to their minds is that he is the Apostle of
love. He sensed God's love for himself through the Person of Jesus Christ so
intensely, that he was consumed with the desire to make others aware of this
great love. Out of all the passages from his Gospel, the Church has chosen, for
his feast, the moment when he himself came to faith in the resurrection of
Jesus. He went into the empty tomb; he saw and believed.
Today's Gospel helps us to
see that death leads to the glory of the Resurrection! What did John see in the
tomb that led him to believe in the resurrection of Jesus? It was certainly not
a dead body. Jesus' body would have disproven the resurrection and made His
death a tragic conclusion to a glorious and great teacher and worker of
miracles. When John saw the empty tomb he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy -
He would rise again after three days. Through the gift of faith, John realized
that no tomb on earth could contain the Lord and Giver of life!
The Resurrection of Jesus is
not only the sign of the Father's great love for His beloved Son, but it is
also the sign of the Father's great love for us. Jesus is the plan, the blue
print for our lives. What happened to Him will also happen to us. We, too, are
vulnerable, subject to death. But death for us will also lead to the
resurrection. The Father loves us so much that He wants us to share in His
glory and the everlasting life of His Son.
John, in his first Epistle
testifies: "Beloved: 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" (1 Jn 1:1). John bears witness to what has
existed from all eternity. The "Word of life" is Jesus, the Word
Incarnate. He is the Word announced by the prophets and the Word now preached
throughout the Christian church for all ages to come. One thing is certain, if
Jesus had not risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples, we would never
have heard Him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing men and
women into people radiant with joy and courage.
The reality of the
Resurrection is the central fact of the Christian faith. Through the gift of
the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know Him and
the power of His Resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter the
living Christ and to know Him personally as our Savior and Lord. The Christmas
season is a time of great joy. St. John, in the first reading, states that his
purpose in writing is so that our joy might be complete. Our joy at the birth
of Christ is complete when we realize that our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ. This fellowship, this oneness, will come to
fruition in our own resurrection from the dead.
God
bless you this Christmas Season!