Saint John the Divine

Today is the feast day of Saint John the Apostle of Jesus Christ, often referred to as "Saint John the Divine." An Episcopal cathedral in New York bears this name. It's big. It's really big -- and vibrant. I can almost smell the incense just thinking about it.

It is fitting that today is John the Apostle's feast day, because tomorrow's gospel is John 1:1-18, the beautiful prologue to the Gospel that bears his name. John is also credited with three short letters that appear near the end of the New Testament. The central message in John's letters is, "Little children, love one another."

His Book of Revelation gets a lot of notoriety for its images of the end-time. The end is always near to someone.

John's Gospel, the last Gospel to be written, has a dreamy quality. In it John offers reflections about Jesus Christ that come from years of distilling Jesus' message. John was probably a teenager when he began to follow Jesus. He lived a long life and was the only Apostle who died a natural death. John is the writer who gave us this verse:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)


In peace,
Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Vicar, Holy Cross Church Episcopal
Billings, Montana
406-208-7314
www.holycrosschurchbillings.org
artwork: http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/andre/images/t_john.jpg