December 27--St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). With that sentence, we are introduced to Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Word, or in Greek, the Logos. John is the Apostle of Love. He is never named in the Gospel, but he is called the “beloved disciple,” or “the one whom Jesus loved,” a title that indicates his closeness with Jesus. He is the one who put his head on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper. He was with Mary and Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross when Jesus died. He took Mary and cared for her at Jesus’ command. At the end of his Gospel, he wrote: “But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31). In 1 Jn. 4:8 he wrote: “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.”

Love is the key to Jesus. He loves us. He calls us to love him in return. God’s grace is love, an invisible outpouring of God’s love into our hearts, so that we may love as God loves us: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another” (1 Jn. 4:11). We are commanded to love as Jesus loved us (Jn. 13:34-35). In this way, we show our unity with God and one another. Love is the taste of Heaven that we can experience here on earth. As we love, we are drawn closer into the relationship of love that God has in himself—The Father eternally loving the beloved Son, who loves the Father in return; the love between them, the Holy Spirit. Thus, the final Word of salvation is LOVE.

June 28--St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Bishop and Martyr

What if there was a "secret" knowledge of Jesus that only a few "real" believers knew about? It would be like being a member of a secret society, with certain code words and beliefs that no one else would understand without being privy to that "knowledge". This describes the Gnostic heresy that today's saint had to combat.

St. Irenaeus was a disciple of St. Polycarp, who was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, thus emphasizing Apostolic Succession. He lived in the second and third centuries and was a great theologian. The heresy he faced was Gnosticism which consisted of various groups and teachings. However, the main teaching was that the Gnostics had access to a secret oral tradition of Jesus that only they knew about and was superior to the teachings of the Church. St. Irenaeus researched all the variations of the time and wrote the book Against Heresies to both accurately explain the false teachings of the heretics and the correct teachings of the Church.

St. Irenaeus emphasized the role of the Church and Apostolic Succession in his teachings, pointing out the novelty of the new teachings and the truth of Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. We run across the same situations today, with people sharing false new versions of who Jesus is, such as being the husband of Mary Magdalene or just being a good teacher of morality or one who would accept everyone no matter who they "loved" as long as they "loved" them. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching" (Heb. 13:8). St. Irenaeus, pray for us.