27 December, Wednesday — Are you running to Jesus?

Dec 27 – Feast of St. John, apostle, evangelist

St. John, also known as the ‘beloved disciple’ of Jesus, was the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of St. James the Great, and was called one of the Sons of Thunder. Before becoming Jesus’ disciple, he was already a disciple of St. John the Baptist, and a friend of St. Peter the Apostle. He was called by Jesus during the first year of Christ’s ministry, and travelled everywhere with him. He took part in the Last Supper, and was the only one of the Twelve not to forsake the Saviour in the hour of his Passion, standing at the foot of the cross.

He was made guardian of Our Lady by Jesus, and he took her into his home. Upon hearing of the Resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb; when he met the risen Lord at the Lake of Tiberius, he was the first to recognise him.

During the era of the new Church, he worked in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. During Jesus’ ministry, he tried to block a Samaritan from their group, but Jesus explained the open nature of the new Way, and he worked on that principle to found churches in Asia Minor and baptising converts in Samaria. He was imprisoned with Peter for preaching after Pentecost. He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles, and possibly the Book of Revelation.

• Patron Saint Index

1 Jn 1:1-4
Jn 20:1a,2-8

…but the other disciple, running faster…

In running to the tomb, John didn’t know exactly what they would find; Mary Magdalene said ‘they had taken the Lord’  – yet he ran – he ran faster. 

He ran faster. It makes me smile to read that in scripture. Those words create an immediate picture, don’t they? It’s easy to shake those words off, ‘but the other disciple ran faster’, after all, who cares? Why could this possibly matter? Why would these words make it into the Holy Scripture? They seem a bit…irrelevant.

Well, we know nothing in scripture is irrelevant, without purpose. 

So, it must be important that we know that JOHN RAN FASTER in searching for Jesus, the Risen Lord. And important for you and I today, to read and intentionally think about these few words for they are intentionally in the Holy Bible.

John, the youngest apostle, the beloved disciple of Jesus, was running to an empty tomb. Why?

Because he loved Jesus. He believed Jesus. He believed IN Jesus.

I love the picture – the excitement, anticipation, and exhilaration that John must have been feeling. Knowing what we know of John, there is no doubt that he knew they would find Jesus in flesh and blood again – perhaps he didn’t understand exactly where or how, but he knew with every fiber of his being, that Jesus was who he said he was – and thus he ran – faster.

So, in this afterglow of Christmas Day, and with the stark, yet joyful celebration of St. Stephen, the first martyr yesterday, let us sit and meditate on the times we have run to Jesus. Running with our arms wide open in grateful anticipation. Running with barely the energy to move, due to a heavy heart in need of comfort. Running to our Lord and Saviour. Our All. 

Breathe it in. Take 15 minutes alone, just you and Jesus. Close your eyes and simply be. Be quiet with God. Be so quiet that you hear the silence. Breathe in gratefulness. Breathe out praise. Open your mind’s eye so that you see yourself running to Jesus – and picture Jesus running toward you as well – He always does. Take it in, as you witness yourself literally flinging yourself into his outstretched arms. And just stay there. In the silence. In the peace. In the arms of Jesus. Stay there.

Breathe in the goodness of God! Feel it in every fiber of your body. 

I am hoping that before I rise each morning, I will close my eyes before I get up and feel myself running into the arms of Jesus. I want to live a life that loves Jesus well, and I can only do that by loving others well, and I can only do that by walking with Jesus. I, too, want to be his beloved disciple.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)

Prayer: Father God, send your angels and saints to us upon our waking to remind us that when we walk with you, all is well. That all the angels and saints, including St. John, are running the race with us in anticipation of joining them, our Blessed Mother and our Lord and Saviour in heaven.

Thanksgiving: Lord God, of all how joyfully we thank you, for all that You are and all that You have given us – and continue to give us. Thank you for Jesus.