{"id":35972,"date":"2019-03-02T02:39:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T08:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=35972"},"modified":"2019-03-02T22:13:38","modified_gmt":"2019-03-03T04:13:38","slug":"in-the-footsteps-of-st-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/in-the-footsteps-of-st-john\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Footsteps of St. John","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"St. John resting on the breast of Christ,<\/em> (John 13:23)<\/span><\/p>\n

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AS\u00a0<\/strong>you read this, I am on a flight to the Holy Land to embark on a pilgrimage.<\/em>\u00a0I am going to take the next twelve days to lean upon the breast of Christ at His Last Supper… to enter Gethsemane to \u201cwatch and pray\u201d… and to stand in the silence of Calvary to draw strength from the Cross and Our Lady. This will be my last writing until I return.<\/p>\n

The Garden of Gethsemane is the place that represents the \u201ctipping point\u201d when Jesus was at last to enter His Passion. It would seem that the Church, too, has come to this place.<\/p>\n

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\u2026polls around the world are now showing that the Catholic faith itself is increasingly seen, not as a force for good in the world, but as, rather, a force for evil. This is where we are now.<\/strong> \u2014Dr. Robert Moynihan, \u201cLetters\u201d, February 26th, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As I prayed about what my focus should be this coming week, I sensed that I should follow in the footsteps of St. John. <\/i>And here\u2019s why: he will teach us how to remain faithful when everything else, including \u201cPeter,\u201d seems to be in chaos.<\/p>\n

Just before entering the Garden, Jesus said:<\/p>\n

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\u201cSimon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.\u201d (Luke 22:31-32)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Scripture, all the Apostles fled the Garden when Judas and the soldiers came. And yet, John alone returned to the foot of the Cross, standing alongside the Mother of Jesus. Why, or rather, how<\/em> did he remain faithful to the end knowing, he too, could have been crucified…?<\/p>\n

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THE CONTEMPLATIVE JOHN<\/p>\n

In his Gospel, John recounts:<\/p>\n

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Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, \u201cAmen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.\u201d The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus\u2019 side. (John 13:21-23)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sacred art throughout the centuries has depicted John as leaning on Christ’s chest, contemplating His Lord, listening to the beats of His Sacred Heart. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. John 13:25<\/span><\/span>