St. John, Apostle and Evangelist December 27, 2023,

Fr. Rick’s Two-Minute Homily Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
December 27, 2023, John 20:1a and 2-8
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122623.cfm
John is running. Peter is running. Why?

John and Peter ran to the empty tomb, and John ran faster. The disciples on the road to Emmaus look different, walking with their heads down and depressed. The two disciples thought they had lost everything when Jesus died. But not John.

Remember St. Joseph, how he took the news that Mary was with child, but note this: the child was born in his heart before He was born in the flesh. So it was with St. John. All it took was for Mary Magdalene to say, “He’s not there.” So, where was Jesus? Obviously, like St. Joseph, Jesus was in St. John’s heart.

It wasn’t a thought, an idea, or an emotion; none of these caused John to run to the empty tomb. It was Jesus in his legs; We have got to hear that it was Jesus in his legs that caused him to run to the tomb because it was Jesus in his hearing that stirred those legs to run.
When the angel appeared to Mother Mary, she heard the Word first and treasured it in her heart. When she did, she ran to her cousin Elizabeth to share her good news.

St. Joseph, too, heard the Word, and he also hastened to take Mary as his wife. So, St. John heard the Word that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, and he ran to see the Word, who is life, a completely different life than he had been living.

Gospel Challenge:
And now you and I have heard that Word, who is our life. So where is the Lord sending us? To whom will we run and share this incredible Good News that our Savior has been born for us and the whole world? What will we tell them? What will be our first words of life to them?

Love Your Neighbor:
Please join me in praying for all baptized Catholics to be faithful to Jesus in the Holy Mass every weekend. Hail Mary, full of grace…
Mother Mary, “I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you, I always want to belong completely to Jesus.” The Surrender Novena – InHeartland. https://inheartland.com/pages/the-surrender-novena

Peace be with you,

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
www.bscchurch.com

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