1 John 1:1-4 / John 20:2-8
According to some accounts, St. John lived to a ripe old age whereas the other Apostles were martyred as they went out to preach the Good News.
There were also reports that St. John also had suffered persecution and was plunged into boiling oil from which he miraculously escaped unscathed.
There is also the notion that John became a disciple as a very young man, and hence he is often portrayed as the young, beardless apostle at the Last Supper images.
The letters of John and the gospel according to John are accredited to his authorship, and in the gospel of John, he is often identified as the "disciple whom Jesus loved".
Indeed, the theme of love is prominent in the letters and in the gospel. St. John was not only in the inner circle together with St. Peter and St. James, he was also a witness to the Resurrection, as we heard in the gospel.
But St. John is also a witness to the love of Jesus and he experienced it such that he even wrote it down in the gospel.
It is said that St. John preached this message of love right up to his ripe old age.
St. John not only says that he is the disciple whom Jesus loved, he is also saying that we are the disciples whom Jesus loves.
Let us ask for his prayers that we will experience the love of Jesus as he did and go out to proclaim that message of love.