December 27 — Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
John 20:1–8
John’s Gospel tells us that the beloved disciple entered the empty tomb, “saw and believed.” But before he ever saw the empty tomb, he had seen the cross.
He stood at Calvary with Mary. He saw the body of the Crucified One. He saw the wound in His side. He saw what sin does when it reaches full strength.
- What we see today
John saw the Crucified Christ. So did Mary. We also see crucifixion in our time— not on a hill outside Jerusalem, but in places we pass every day.
I see it when my parishioners miss Sunday Mass because their bosses demands overtime. I see it when children spend thirteen hours away from home—leaving at seven, returning at eight—because our education system keeps adding more activities and lessons than a child can bear. I see it when night shifts slowly erode the health of good, faithful workers.
I see crucifixion when dirty water pours into the river, and the air carries a poisonous smell. Pope Francis is right: we live in an economy that kills— and it crucifies the poor and the earth together.
John saw Christ crucified. Mary saw also Him. We see Him too.
- What we know—even if we did not see
Peter was not at the foot of the cross. He ran away. But he still knew what happened.
Many of us are like Peter. We may not personally witness the abuse of the poor, or the exploitation of workers, or the pollution of distant lands— but we know. We know that our denials, our silences, our comfort, have helped create a world where people and creation suffer.
Peter wept when he realized this. We, too, must let truth touch us.
- Two nights passed
Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, two nights of darkness and confusion passed. Two nights when no one understood what God was doing. Two nights when grief and hope sat side by side.
And now, on that early Easter morning, the three are together again— Mary, Peter, and John.
But the crucified body is no longer there. The tomb is empty. What they see is absence, silence, and folded cloths where a dead man should have been.
Only John interprets this correctly. He sees and believes.
He believes that the God who allowed His Son to be crucified has now raised Him from the dead. He believes that death does not have the last word. He believes that love is stronger than violence. He believes that God is already beginning a new world.
- The empty tomb and our future
Easter gives birth to a vision of new life, a new world, a new society. The resurrection proclaims that life conquers sin and death; that cruelty and injustice do not get the final say; that God will not allow us to destroy His image in human beings nor the beauty of His creation.
The empty tomb tells us: God is already at work undoing what we have broken. The risen Christ tells us: the world as it is now is not the world God intends.
Like John, we are invited to stand before the emptiness— and believe that God is acting in ways we cannot yet see.
Prayer
St. John, teach us to see the crucified Christ in the wounds of our world, to face the crosses of our time without fear, to notice the small signs of resurrection, and to believe— even when we see only an empty tomb.
Amen.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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