Our Faith

December 23, 2022 | catholicnewsherald.com

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’

The beginning of the Gospel of John

“St. John the Evangelist” by Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)

St. John the Apostle: The ‘beloved disciple’

The feast day of St. John the Evangelist, one of the authors of the Gospels, is celebrated Dec. 27. Also known as St. John the Divine, the son of Zebedee and brother of St. James the Great was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry.

He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when Christ made him the guardian of His Mother.

His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and at Ephesus.

St. John founded many churches in Asia Minor and wrote many important works, including the fourth Gospel and three Epistles (although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death). The Book of Revelation is also attributed to him.

Tradition relates that St. John was brought to Rome and cast into a cauldron of boiling oil on the orders of Emperor Domitian, but he came forth unhurt. He then was banished to the Greek island of Patmos for a year.

He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died in Ephesus about the year 100.

St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, a virtue he had learned from his Divine Master and which he constantly inculcated by word and example.

A stately church was later erected over his tomb in Ephesus. It was afterwards converted into a mosque. — Catholic News Agency

Daily Scripture readings

DEC. 25-31

Sunday (The Nativity of the LordChristmas): Isaiah 62:11-12, Titus 3:4-7, Luke 2:15-30; Monday (St. Stephen): Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59, Matthew 10:17-22; Tuesday (St. John): 1 John 1:1-4, John 20:1a, 2-8; Wednesday (The Holy Innocents): 1 John 1:5-2:2, Matthew 2:13-18; Thursday (St. Thomas Becket): 1 John 2:3-11, Luke 2:22-35; Friday (The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph): Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14, Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23; Saturday (St. Sylvester I): 1 John 2:18-21, John 1:1-18 JAN. 1-7

Sunday (Mary, the Holy Mother of God): Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:16-26; Monday (Sts. Basil the Great): 1 John 2:22-28, John 1:19-28; Tuesday (The Most Holy Name of Jesus): 1 John 2:29-3:6, John 1:29-34; Wednesday (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton): 1 John 3:7-10, John 1:35-42; Thursday (St. John Neumann): 1 John 3:11-21, John 1:43-51; Friday (St. André Bessette): 1 John 5:5-13, Mark 1:7-11; Saturday (St. Raymond of Penyafort): 1 John 5:14-21, John 2:1-11 JAN 8-14

Sunday (The Epiphany of the Lord): Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12; Monday (The Baptism of the Lord): Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Matthew 3:13-17; Tuesday: Hebrews 2:5-12, Mark 1:21-28; Wednesday: Hebrews 2:14-18, Mark 1:29-39; Thursday: Hebrews 3:7-14, Mark 1:40-45; Friday (St. Hilary): Hebrews 4:1-5, 11, Mark 2:1-12; Saturday: Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 2:13-17

Our faith

CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI 3

Pope Francis

The devil is sneaky, so Christians must be watchful

Vigilance is an essential part of the spiritual life because the devil will try to sneak in when one is not paying attention or, especially, when a Christian thinks he or she is making a lot of progress on the road to holiness, Pope Francis said.

“When we trust too much in ourselves and not in God’s grace, then the Evil One finds the door open. So, he organizes an expedition and takes possession of that house,” which is a person’s spiritual life, the pope said on Dec. 14 at his weekly general audience.

Since late August, the pope has been using his general audience talks to explain the process of spiritual discernment according to the teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.

“If vigilance is lacking,” the pope said, there is “a very high risk that all will be lost. It is a danger not of a psychological, but of a spiritual order, a real snare of the evil spirit.”

Part of discernment is being watchful to safeguard one’s heart and soul, he said. Vigilance “is the frame of mind of Christians who await the final coming of the Lord; but it also can be understood as the normal attitude to have in the conduct of life, so that our good choices, taken at times after challenging discernment, may proceed in a persevering and consistent manner and bear fruit.”

The pope noted how Advent reminds Christians of the importance of watchfulness or vigilance.

“We await the coming of the Lord, and we remain attentive to our more fragile brothers and sisters who knock at the door of our hearts,” the pope said. “This is how we build our lives with discernment and consistent with the Gospel.”

“Let us ask the Lord to keep us vigilant in humility and in availability” to those in need, he said.

When one does something good, the pope said, there often is a temptation of pride, “the presumption of being righteous, of being good, of having everything in place. Often, we will hear someone say, ‘Yes, I was bad before, but I converted and now my house is in order, thanks be to God,’ and they relax.” At moments like that, the pope said, the devil will not overpower a person, but will be very “polite” and ask to come in, then he will make himself at home.

“Watch over your heart because vigilance is a sign of wisdom, it is above all a sign of humility” and of knowing that without God’s help, one can fail, the pope said. “Humility is the high road of the Christian life.”