John 20:1a and 2-8

1 John 1:1-4

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12

John 20:1a and 2-8

On the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter

and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,

“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,

and we do not know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

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.

When Simon Peter arrived after him,

he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,

and the cloth that had covered his head,

not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Then the other disciple also went in,

the one who had arrived at the tomb first,

and he saw and believed.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, the life of the Apostle John is a testament to the power of your grace. He went from being a “son of thunder,” ready to call down fire upon others, to an old man who repeated to his spiritual children, “love one another.” May I likewise be so transformed by your grace.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Gospel of John: John did not suffer a martyr’s death. His testimony was largely given in his writings. John’s Gospel focuses on Jesus’ identity as the Word and Son of God. It introduces us into the mystery of God as a family, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are called to belong to that family and do so through the Sacraments of the Church. John’s Gospel invites us to contemplate the deep symbolism of Jesus’ signs and how Jesus’ followers, through the Sacraments, do even greater signs. John records many words and actions of Jesus not narrated in the other three Gospels, including the Farewell Discourse (Testament) at the Last Supper. In it, Jesus gives the commandment to love. “If the disciples are to enter into the divine communion of love between the Father and Son, they must obey Jesus and love one another with God’s radical, self-giving love (15:8-17). But the Church must also confront ‘the world,’ the sum total of all that deliberately rejects God and persecutes Jesus and his disciples (15:18-16:11). Although the Church will be hated and persecuted by the world, Jesus commissions the disciples to go and bear witness to the love of God. To help them in this mission, Jesus promises them the divine help of the Spirit” (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 254).

2. The Revelation of John: Unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Gospel of John does not contain Jesus’ discourse about the end of Jerusalem and the end of the world. These themes are dealt with in the final book of the Bible, the Revelation (Apocalypse) of John. Using highly symbolic language, John records the words of Jesus, the Lamb of God, about the coming destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, how the heavenly liturgy guides and has effects on world events, how good and evil will battle throughout history until the end of time, and how the new creation will be brought to fulfillment at the end of time. The Revelation of John invites us to see our earthly liturgy as a share in the heavenly worship of God, who creates, of the Lamb, who redeems, and of the Spirit, who brings all things to their consummation.

3. The First Letter of John: From today until Epiphany, our First Reading will normally be taken from the First Letter of John. Anderson and Keating summarize the relevance of the letter for our times in four points. First, the letter “reminds us how important it is to know and confess the true faith … that Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God who has truly come ‘in the flesh’ and has redeemed us by his sacrifice on the cross.” Second, the letter “shows that genuine Christian life must be a life of love – love for God and for one another.” Third, the letter “obliges us to face up to our sin.” We are called to overcome sin in our lives and pursue a life of holiness. Through God’s grace, we can be transformed and live a new life walking with Christ. Fourth and finally, the letter announces that true and eternal life is found in fellowship and communion with the living God and with one another. “The Christian life cannot be reduced to simply believing certain truths, or avoiding sin, or even loving one another faithfully. All these find their place in a living relationship with God that we can enter into even now and that will come to fullness in the life to come” (Anderson and Keating, James, First, Second, and Third John, 133).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I desire, above all things, eternal life with you. Bring the gift of your grace within me to its consummation in glory.

Living the Word of God: How do the main points contained in the First Letter of John speak to me? How is my living relationship with God?