BIG C CATHOLICS

Feast Day - December 27th  Saint John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee and Salome, was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. John was called by our Lord in the first year of His ministry. He is also known as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos and the Beloved Disciple. John's older brother and fellow Apostle was Saint James the Great. Jesus referred to the brothers as "Boanerges," meaning "sons of thunder." John was the longest living Apostle and the only one that did not receive the crown of martyrdom. Together with Peter and James, John witnessed the raising Jairus’ Daughter, the Transfiguration of Christ, the Olivet Discourse and the Agony of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. John was the disciple who reported to Jesus that they had "'forbidden' a non-disciple from casting out demons in Jesus' name." Jesus stated in reply, "There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. He

December 27th, is the feast of Saint John the Apostle, Evangelist and "beloved disciple". He wrote the Gospel bearing his name, three Epistles and the Book of Revelation. A fisherman by trade, he was born in Galilee, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and younger brother of Saint James the Great. Together with his brother and Saint Peter, he was singled out to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration and Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane. Standing at the foot of the cross, Jesus entrusts His Mother to John’s care. John is the only Apostle (besides Judas) spared from martyrdom, despite several attempts on his life. James and John, whom Christ called the "sons of thunder" were mending nets with their father when the Savior asked them to follow Him. This epithet applies in a particular way to John, who courageously proclaimed the most sublime mysteries of Christ’s divinity. He was the youngest of all the Apostles, probably about 25, at the time of his c

EMPTY IS BEAUTIFUL Fr. Rene Butler Usually we think of emptiness as not good, when something that is supposed to fill that space is gone. That was the reaction of most of the disciples who found the tomb of Jesus empty. One important exception was the Beloved Disciple, who ran to the tomb with Peter after Mary Magdalene told them that Jesus’ body was missing. When he entered the tomb after Peter, the Gospel says, “He saw, and he believed.” In other words, he understood what had really happened, and for him that empty tomb became one of the most beautiful places in the world. You can just imagine him thinking the biblical equivalent of “cool!” “awesome!” “wow!” We make our churches as beautiful as possible for Easter. And that beauty is enhanced by the fact that our churches are fuller than usual. Ideally the fruit of the empty tomb is a full church, people of faith gathered together to celebrate the Risen Christ, week after week after week. How wonderful it would be if all