The Witness of the Incarnation - St John, Apostle and Evangelist

Readings: 1 John 1:1-4; Psalm 97; John 20, 1a, 2-8.

This is no coincidence, I think, that we celebrate the feast of St John, Apostle and Evangelist, in the Octave of Christmas. He is the first defender of the truth of the Incarnation. He testifies to
what he has heard,
what he has seen with his eyes,
what he looked uponand touched with his hands
he is a witness to the fact that God became one of us.

This truth is so incredible that over the centuries many have tried to deny it. Why is this so? I am sure that there is more than one way of accounting for this. Perhaps the most important reason is that the Incarnation shows clearly the radical love that God has for us. This could be an uncomfortable fact for many, even for us today: love is always a relationship that requires at least two persons, it requires a wholehearted response.

Perhaps we ourselves are not always ready to accept and respond to love with love. Nothing could be easier and more difficult at the same time because of our fear of commitment. But loving God is no serfdom but liberation and deep in our hearts we all long for this Beauty, ‘ever ancient and ever new.’