Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist

Lectionary: 697

...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.

Mainline Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, are challenged today as never before. Young people are not interested. If their baby boom parents paid nominal allegiance to a sect or denomination they rarely attended, their children can't be bothered. They know there is no need to claim a Christian identity; it doesn't promote one's social or professional standing. Voters don't ask which church their candidates attend; candidates don't appeal to fellow members of their church. Young Veterans in the VA may claim their parent's church if the chaplain visits, but that's as far as it goes. We could point to a thousand reasons for this state of affairs but it really doesn't matter.

Faith is an affair of the heart; it is inspired by the Father who reveals his Son to little ones. Without the social supports of a Christian culture faithful individuals may feel more isolated but they also enjoy a greater freedom to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of Saint John was written under circumstances similar to our own; there were no earthly rewards for faith. Those who chose to abandon their Jewish or gentile religions and joined the Church responded to a very personal call. They had been set apart by the Truth; they had tasted the sweetness of the Lord; it delighted like an exotic wine, ever ancient and ever new. Like their spiritual ancestors, Abraham and Sarah, they could not turn back.

The early church had its fellowship; they were not maverick individuals determined to express themselves, do their own thing or "Do it my way." The Gospel of John demonstrates how seriously they considered the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, which bound the community together.
But they were also intimately, personally attached to Jesus, like branches on a vine. Unlike the synoptic gospels, Saint John says Jesus gave the bread in the wilderness directly to each person, He did not use the disciples as mediators. 

The Gospel describes very personal conversations with Jesus: Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the man born blind, Martha, Mary, the Beloved Disciple and, finally, Pontius Pilate -- who had his moment and missed it entirely. Every Christian knows that conversation with the Son of Mary. 

If, at one time, parents could have their children baptized and expect them to remain in the church, that day is passed. Every individual, whether baptized as a child, teen or adult, must make that personal decision again and again. Up to our necks in the turgid, fast-flowing river of today's enticements and distractions, expecting a future that will only be more seductive and less satisfying, Christians cling to Jesus as we encourage one another to hold onto faith.