Since Christmas the Church has celebrated the feast of two Saint Johns, both of whom are important for us at Saint John the Evangelist Church.
On December 27, we celebrated our patronal feast of Saint John the Evangelist. This feast is overshadowed by Christmas; however, the Church deliberately placed this feast right after Christmas for good reasons.
In his gospel and first letter, John marveled at how the invisible and eternal Word became visible and was able to be touched, seen and heard. On Christmas day, God’s Word became visible on earth. Jesus is the Word. John’s Gospel and first letter both begin with his amazement at the timeless Word of God who became accessible to us through the incarnation. The Word is God according to John and it is through His Word that God reveals Himself to humans. And on Christmas, this Word became flesh and lived among us.
In the Gospel, John calls himself “the one Jesus loved” and for him the meaning of his life was that he was chosen and loved by Jesus. The Jesus who loved him is not just a prophet, but eternal life made visible.
In his first letter, John assures us of forgiveness of our sins if we ask for it. John cautions us that we are sinners and that a denial of our status as sinners is a lie. But being a sinner is nothing to fear, for forgiveness is generously offered through Christ.
John was at the cross, with Jesus when He died. The other disciples fled, but John was there with several female disciples and with the Blessed Mother. From the cross, Jesus entrusted Mary to John and John tells his readers that from that moment, he took Mary into his home. Jesus told John that Mary was to be John’s mother and Jesus told Mary that John was to be her son.
John is not only telling us about his own loving relationship with Jesus, but he is assuring us that we too can be the ones Jesus loves. We are offered intimacy with Jesus and we are invited to be children of Mary. Jesus does love us. John was convinced that he was loved by Jesus and so should we.
On January 5, the Church celebrated the feast of Saint John Neumann. John Neumann was the fifth bishop of Philadelphia. During his time, our beloved Saint John Church was the temporary cathedral and John Neumann’s funeral was held at Saint John the Evangelist Church.
Saint John Neumann was a simple humble man, an immigrant. His ministry was directed to the many immigrants who were flocking to the United States. He leaned quite a few languages so that he could minister to people from many lands who had come to the United States. Some native born Philadelphians regarded him as too simple, an ignorant immigrant and a disappointment as bishop.
John worked hard for his flock, founding many Catholic schools, fostering vocations for religious Sisters and promoting devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Saint John Neumann spent his life to foster the Catholic faith in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He recognized that welcoming immigrants was essential to the mission and vitality of this local Church. We too can witness to the faith in the same Archdiocese by the way we live and the things we say, especially by welcoming all people to the table of God’s children, the Eucharist.