December 27, 2021

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Jn 20: 1a, 2-8 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. 

-Spanish- Jn 20, 2-9

El primer día después del sábado, María Magdalena vino corriendo a la casa donde estaban Simón Pedro y el otro discípulo, a quien Jesús amaba, y les dijo: “Se han llevado del sepulcro al Señor y no sabemos dónde lo habrán puesto”.

Salieron Pedro y el otro discípulo camino del sepulcro. Los dos iban corriendo juntos, pero el otro discípulo corrió más aprisa que Pedro y llegó primero al sepulcro, e inclinándose, miró los lienzos puestos en el suelo, pero no entró.

En eso, llegó también Simón Pedro, que lo venía siguiendo, y entró en el sepulcro. Contempló los lienzos puestos en el suelo y el sudario, que había estado sobre la cabeza de Jesús, puesto no con los lienzos en el suelo, sino doblado en sitio aparte. Entonces entró también el otro discípulo, el que había llegado primero al sepulcro, y vio y creyó, porque hasta entonces no habían entendido las Escrituras, según las cuales Jesús debía resucitar de entre los muertos.

Los textos de la Sagrada Escritura utilizados en esta obra han sido tomados de los Leccionarios I, II y III, propiedad de la Comisión Episcopal de Pastoral Litúrgica de la Conferencia Episcopal Mexicana, copyright © 1987, quinta edición de septiembre de 2004. Utilizados con permiso. Todos los derechos reservados.  

Come and See

Mary, Peter, and John are all met with the unexpected, the missing body of Jesus, only to realize the miraculously unexpected has actually happened. Jesus is risen! How often do we limit ourselves with our beliefs, expectations, or what we think we know to be true? Jesus calls each of us to believe, to see, and meet him in the extraordinary and the ordinary. Come and see, follow me...

Jesus arrived days ago as a newborn King, fulfilling prophecy and yet not at all as expected. A vulnerable baby resting in a manger, destined to be our servant king, healing the outcasts and washing his apostles’ feet. Our Lamb of God, dying on a cross for his beloved, each one of us. And now our Risen King, still calling us, Come and see, follow me...

How can we become more aware, open, and willing to seek and find Jesus? How can we see and love him in those we find challenging or unlovable?

—Anne Lagorio is a spiritual director for the Exercises, trained at The Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos. She accompanies those making the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life, and serves for the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Saint Ignatius Parish in Sacramento, CA, the Santa Clara University Ignatian Adventure Program, and the St. Monica’s Spirituality Center in Santa Monica, CA.

Prayer 

Seek me in the ordinary, find me in the everyday
Humble yourself, quiet your soul, and hear what I will say
I am speaking to you through your sons and daughters, Through the people in your life
I am whispering through your imagination
As you lay down to sleep at night.
I’ve loved you from eternity - I only want you here with me Come, celebrate my love for you
Open your heart and watch what I will do...
Seek me in the ordinary - find me in the everyday

—Lyrics to “In the Ordinary” by Michael John Poirier, (c) 1995