John, the disciple whom Jesus loved

Today we celebrate the feast of St. John the Evangelist.  St. John shares with us his experience of Christ, whom he saw and touched in person.  John, believed to be the youngest of the apostles, was one of Jesus’ closest friends. He accompanied Jesus to Mount Tabor, to Gethsemane,  was the one who rested his head on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper,  was the only apostle at the foot of the Cross. It is to John that Jesus, during His agonizing death on the cross, entrusted His mother, certainly revealing His love and trust in John.   John was present at the Ascension and at Pentecost.  He is the one who recognized the Risen Christ after the resurrection on the shore of Tiberius, preparing breakfast for the apostles. Like John , we too, experience intimate moments with Jesus. Will I, like John, recognize Jesus in the various disguises in my life? Jesus comes to us hidden in our neighbor, in the stranger, the homeless, in a little child, in the disguise of the sick, the physician, the priest, family members—in fact, in all of our encounters, great and small, welcomed and unwelcomed.  Like John, we receive special messages from Jesus at the foot of our crosses.  Jesus  entrusts persons to us as precious to the Lord as His mother was to Him.  Like John, do I trust Jesus to the point of asking Him personal questions, as John did at the last Supper? Will I, like John, accompany others to the foot of their crosses and be a comfort to them? Will I, like John, be the one to recognize Jesus “making breakfast” for me after a busy “night” and nothing to show for my efforts? In what disguises and in which situations will I recognize the face of Christ this day and realize that, like John, I too, am Christ’s beloved disciple?