GOSPEL, John (21: 20-25)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John
Jesus and the Beloved Disciple
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” 23 So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
In yesterday’s readings, (John (21: 15-19) Jesus had asked Peter three times “Do you love me?” He answered three times in the affirmative, and Jesus said to him: Then feed my sheep, This means Peter will be given as a mission to be head of the Church.
In today’s reading, Peter also asks about John (vs.21-22)
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” Jesus meant, that both Peter and John have their own own destinies to follow. Jesus does not justify his decision to Peter.
John ends his Gospel, by saying one very important thing,
25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
John means that in the Gospel not everything that Jesus said and did was recorded. The Catholic Church bases itself on scripture and on tradition from the Apostolic Church, everything that the apostles kept, but had not written. The apostles only started to write the Gospels concerning Jesus twenty years later but the tradition of the Church remained the apostolic tradition. (The creed, the sacraments, the assumption of Our Lady, etc.)
Like Peter and the beloved disciple, let us discover our way of showing the face of Jesus to those who are oppressed by the slavery of evil.
PRAYER
Almighty and eternal God, You who have given us the grace to conclude this Easter feast, make our whole life a faithful testimony of the risen Lord.