Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
How many guys do you know named John (in Hebrew Yohanan)? Or Sean, Jack, Ivan, Ian, Juan, Giovanni, Jan, or Hans? Probably not as many as you would have known in 1st century Palestine.
There are “Johns” galore in the New Testament: John the Baptist, John the son of Zebedee, John the Elder, John the Presbyter, John the Evangelist, John Mark, John of Patmos. There's also the “Disciple whom Jesus loved” whose name may or may not have been John. Today the Church Universal remembers the son of Zebedee, the apostle John.
There's what we call “Johannine literature,” too---the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the Book of Revelation. All emerged within the Johannine community at Ephesus known as the “Community of the Beloved Disciple.”
Hebrew/Aramaic Yohanan can translate to “Yahweh is gracious in kindness.”
Thirty-three years ago in his inaugural address George H. W. Bush called for a “kinder, gentler” nation. In recent years there has been an alarming lack of kindness and graciousness among us. We cannot disagree without labeling the other as “enemy.” Millions pine and ache for the return of a “kinder, gentler” America---virtues espoused by the Community of the Beloved Disciple at Ephesus, especially in the letters of John.
A good friend who is a Jewish psychologist and her husband recently took one of those packaged tours of Turkey. There they visited what the tour guide told them was the House of Mary in Ephesus where the Disciple whom Jesus Loved took the Mother of Jesus into his home. Now she had never heard of the House of Mary until the tour bus came upon it. Nor did she know of the tradition that Mary had come to Ephesus.
Entering the tiny abode my friend had one of the most profound experiences of her life. She called it “other worldly” and “transcendent” and impossible to describe with words. She did not convert to Christianity on the spot but rather said it was more like “one Jewish mother greeting another.”
She was right. The Virgin Mary was a Jew and the above listed “Johns” were deeply Jewish, too. All New Testament authors were seeped in Judaism as well as being “Followers of the Way,” followers of Jesus. In fact, “Spiritually all Christians must be Semites” (Pope Pius XI).
Today I John writes so that “our joy may be complete.” Appropriate for this third day of Christmas, as the psalmist calls upon the entire earth to rejoice. Truly only one who is “kind,” “gentle” and “joyful” can be entrusted with the care of God's greatest jewel, the Blessed Virgin Mary. (We are entrusted with her now---especially parish communities like ours who bear her name.)
St. Jerome (4th century) wrote that the author of the letters of John was a gentle soul who was granted longevity of years. Elder John lost his voice as he aged. Still he traveled Asia Minor (Turkey) visiting the churches he founded. He could barely whisper his singular message: “Little children, love one another.” Simple, yes, but most profound. And thoroughly Jewish. Like Mary. Like Jesus. And like what we ought to be for one another.
Today we'll start to see landfill bound Christmas trees curb side---a harsh and joyless scene. Tinsel strewn on sidewalks speaks frightfully of endless ice and chill and springtime far, far away. The earth is hard as stone. But such a gloomy outlook runs counter to today's scripture. The Johannine community of Ephesus has much to teach us. Kindness and gentleness with ourselves and others can get us through the bleakest weather and the bleakest times—-not only to survive but to thrive. Such a simple message it is, too: “Little children, love one another.”
By God's grace may it be so.
Timothy “John” Cronin