On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. (Jn 20:1a, 2-8)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122722.cfm
The question of the Beloved Disciple is a bit complicated. Early church fathers erroneously insisted that the Beloved Disciple was John, and so John’s name gets stuck onto the Fourth Gospel. Today’s feast is really about the gospel, rather than about the person who wrote it. But as the writer of Chapter 21, a later addition to the gospel, states about the Beloved Disciple: “It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.” In the 11th chapter, the Fourth Gospel actually tells us three times who the Beloved Disciple is. It is certainly not John. So whether we celebrate John, the apostle, or the gospel of the Beloved Disciple, it’s Christmas, so let us proclaim what we have seen and heard, and let us love one another as Christ has loved us all.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saint John, apostle & evangelist, December 27, Octave of Christmas
