Homily for the Feast of St. John the Apostle.
Theme: Word became flesh
By: Fr. Gerald M. Musa
Homily for Monday December 27 2021
The New York Times summarised the findings of a Gallup poll about the image of Jesus in the 3rd April, 1983 edition. According to the Gallup poll “Americans hold strong beliefs about the spiritual and ethical mission of Jesus, but they diverge on many specific questions on His nature and significance.” Approximately two out of three Americans believed Jesus was divine in some form. The polls indicate that most of those who were confused about the nature of Christ had a poor knowledge of scripture. Ignorance of scriptures is ignorance of Christ, says St. Jerome. On 27th December the Church celebrates the Evangelist John whom Scripture usually refer to as “the one whom Jesus loved’ (John 20:2). The Evangelist gives a profound insight about the nature (humanity and divinity) of Jesus Christ. The prologue of the Gospel reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Furthermore, the Evangelist states: “The Word became flesh and made His dwellings among us” (John 1:14). He refers to the Word as “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes…” (1 John 1:1ff) Do you really understand the article of the Creed that says Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made and consubstantial with the father?
Feast of St. John the Apostle 1 John 1:1-4; John 20:2-8; 27th December,