(d.c.101) “The beloved disciple” was a Jewish fisherman from Bethsaida, Galilee, and a son of Zebedee and Salome. John was a disciple of John the Baptist and a friend and co-worker of Saint Simon Peter. He and his brother, Saint James the Greater, were nicknamed “sons of thunder” by Jesus (Mark 3:17), and the two were pillars of the apostles and the early Church. John was the youngest of the apostles, the only one who remained at the foot of the Cross, and the last surviving. After the Ascension of Jesus, he ministered in Jerusalem and Ephesus, spent at least one year exiled on the island of Patmos, and died in Ephesus, modern-day Turkey. He is credited with writing the Gospel according to John, three New Testament epistles, and the book of Revelation.
John was a leader, and he formed future leaders in the Church, such as Saint Polycarp and Saint Ignatius of Antioch. How has your relationship with Jesus moved you into leadership?
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (John 19:26-27).
Reflection by Brad Farmer