The Gospel of Saint John - Life in abundance
By the time you read this we will have had two Journey of faith sessions reflecting on the Gospel of Saint John, the fourth Gospel. We are reading it on Wednesday evenings not primarily to analyse it or learn the history of how it came to be, but to encounter, with the evangelist who wrote it, the face of Jesus Christ, and his power-for-life which sustains disciples, and the Church, in faith. John's Gospel is unique. Written later than the other three, it takes much of the content of the other Gospels for granted, and rather than give us many incidents and parables from the life of Jesus, it skilfully concentrates on a few incidents and shows how the characters in them come to faith. Much of John's Gospel material is unique to him - for instance, the lengthy Lenten stories of the Samaritan women at the well, and the man born blind who is cured by Jesus and comes to faith, are only found in John. It is only John who tells us of the washing of feet on Holy Thursday, and only he who at great length describes Jesus as the Good Shepherd. His is a carefully crafted, poetic, and prayerful proclamation of the Word-made-Flesh whom he praises in a lengthy poem in his prologue. No wonder he can give us such an in-depth portrait of our Lord, for he is The disciple Jesus loved , he is the one who reclined on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper and in doing so heard the very heartbeat of God.
We have a number of weeks still to dwell on this beautiful Gospel text. Why don’t you come and join us? It is for us all, it is a gift. I invite you to come and share our reflection this coming Wednesday. John's Gospel is power-for-life indeed. At its very centre, in Chapter Ten, Verse Ten, Jesus proclaims: I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.
You will receive a warm welcome at St Anne's for the Journey of faith this coming Wednesday at 7.30pm. Here is an outline of the theme for the coming weeks: Wednesday 8 February: The Book of Signs – the signs Jesus gives affords him the opportunity to teach the truth and witness to the Father – how he forms us as disciples.
Wednesday 15 February: The Book of Glory – Knowing Christ through his passion as God the Son, one with the Father.
Wednesday 29 February: Encountering the three major Lenten stories in John: Part one: The Woman at well.
Wednesday 7 March: Part two: The Man born blind. Wednesday 14 March: Part three: The Raising of Lazarus.
Wednesday 21 March: John’s Passion Narratives – Christ triumphant, ever reigning.
Wednesday 28 March: Preparing for the Easter Triduum—the once a year experience of the life-in-abundance.
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