The Holy Gospel according to John (20:1a and 2-8)
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection: Merry Christmas! Two days ago, we celebrated the day that Christ, our Savior, was born. Today, we remember St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and author of one of the Gospels, the book of Revelation and some letters of the New Testament. Jesus called St. John, the fisherman, to follow him. John was present at Jesus’ transfiguration and at other of Jesus’ miracles.
In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene first comes to the tomb and finds the stone rolled away. She then runs to Peter and John to tell them about the empty tomb. Peter and John then run to the tomb and see Jesus’ burial cloths lying inside. At first, they seemed confused, and they did not quite understand what has happened.
When we look at our own faith journey, we can probably say that there have been times in our life when we have had little or no faith. Maybe we were confused about our faith. When we see the empty tomb, we are challenged to ask ourselves if we believe in Our Lord’s resurrection even when we cannot see Him.
Mary Magdalene, Peter and John are on their own faith journeys. This reminds us that faith is personal and each of us are on our own faith journey. We may not all come to believe in the same way or at the same time. What is important is that we are on the journey.
For believers, the empty tomb is a sign of Our Lord’s complete victory. John reached the tomb first and went inside. When he saw the burial cloths, he saw and believed.
This shows that even though Jesus may have not been there physically he still chose to believe in him. This encourages us to grow in our relationship with God not based on the amount of prayers that has been answered but in a relationship filled with sincerity and pure love for him, to always choose to walk with him no matter how far we may feel from him.
Action for the Day: Pray for the grace to open our hearts to Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Pray that we trust in him, knowing that He is alive and at work in our lives, even when we see an empty tomb and cannot fully see him.
Audio Reflection:
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