Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122711.cfm

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life...

The Gospel challenges us in a thousand different way, which is to say it invites us in a hundred thousand ways. Each invitation is a challenge to set aside our foolish opinions, preferences and expectations and "Let God Be God." 

One of those challenge/invitations that leaps out Saint John's epistles and gospel is the flesh and blood reality of grace. The Galilee, Nazareth and Jerusalem of our New Testament are not located in J.R.R Tolkien's Middle-earth. They are identifiable places in our very tactile world, which may be seen, looked upon and touched to this day. 

Some scripture scholars have regarded John's Gospel as the most imaginary of the four gospels; they suggest the incidents, teachings and conversations of Jesus never actually happened but were created by his believing Church. 

However, one of the world's foremost scripture scholars -- Pope Benedict XVI -- differs with those opinions. He finds these recorded conversations and detailed events quite plausible; and argues that the ancient Jerusalem church with its school of rabbis could remember and describe Jesus' presentations in detail many years later. He doesn't suppose that John's long chapters are verbatim accounts of Jesus' words, but they capture the spirit, manner and essence of Jesus' very teachings as he taught them. 

I don't suppose that debate will ever be fully resolved but I welcome the Holy Father's corrective teaching. When some scholars suggest that Jesus' real teachings were not faithfully transmitted by the Church, Pope Benedict insists they were entirely accurate. 

If the apostles failed in their mission, the Gospel has been lost and no one can be saved. The Catholic Church can never accept such an absurd teaching. Rather, 

we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us

The Gospel abides in our world, even as Jesus abode with Mary and his disciples there in Galilee. It abides in senate halls, shopping malls, homes, jails, battle fields and classrooms. 


Some "spiritual" people would like to create a spirituality which abides in the spiritual world, but not in our world. It is a place accessible to the vivid imagination via mescaline or LSD, dreams or transcendental meditation. We've seen these pseudo-spiritualities before; the gnostics were promoting them long before Jesus was born. 
Saint John assures us we need not enter through these mystical pathways into another dimension of reality to find salvation. As Moses assured his people in the Book of Deuteronomy:

For this command which I am giving you today is not too wondrous or remote for you. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who will go up to the heavens to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may do it?” Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may do it?” No, it is something very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

The way of Jesus is really very near, as close as your husband, wife, children or parents. It is as near as your Church and the all-too-human Christians you meet there: 

what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.