HOMILY VIII. ON THE BIRTHDAY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST.
JOHN XXI. At that time Jesus said to Peter, Follow me. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His chest at the supper and said: Lord, who is the one who will betray you? etc.
The reading of the Holy Gospel which was read to us, my brothers, ought to be considered by us with so much greater attention to each word, as it overflows with the great sweetness of heavenly grace. For the most blessed evangelist and apostle John commends to us the privilege of special love, by which he deserved to be honored more than the others by the Lord: he commends the testimony of the evangelical account, which, supported by divine truth, no believer is allowed to doubt: he commends the peaceful dissolution of his flesh, which he perceived with the Lord visiting him in a special way. But in order that we may be able to consider the beginnings of this perfect reading, it is pleasing to briefly attend to the earlier parts. The Lord appeared after the resurrection to seven disciples, among whom were Peter and John, who had labored in vain fishing all night, and standing on the shore, he filled their nets with a large multitude of fish, and soon invited them, having come to land, to breakfast, and during breakfast, he asked Peter for the third time if he loved him; and to the third confession of love, because he had denied him three times, he entrusted him three times with feeding his sheep: and then, because he would reach martyrdom on the cross for the pastoral care of those same sheep, that is, the faithful souls, he intimated, saying: Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish. In the stretching out of the hands, he designated that he would be crowned with martyrdom through the death of the cross; in the girding by another, that he would be bound by the persecutor; in the leading where he did not wish, that he would suffer the torments of passion against the will of human frailty. But lest the foretold passion of the cross from the Lord should seem heavy to Peter, he immediately sought to alleviate it by his own example, so that the torment of martyrdom would be the lighter, the more he would remember to receive a sentence of death similar to his Redeemer. For after he indicated to him by what death he would glorify God, he immediately adds what we heard at the beginning of this reading.
And he says to him: Follow me. As if to say openly: Since I did not fear the sudden punishment of the cross for your redemption first, why do you dread to suffer the cross for the confession of my name? You will be glorified with a more illustrious palm of martyrdom because in earning this you follow the path of the master. Now indeed the evangelist does not add what the Lord and the disciples did after these words, but it is nevertheless implied from what he adds, Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following. It is clear that when he said to Peter, Follow me, that is, imitate me by enduring the cross, he rose from the place of the feast and began to depart. Peter followed him even with his steps, desiring to fulfill what he heard, Follow me. The beloved disciple whom Jesus loved also followed. For he did not consider himself to be excluded from following Christ, who knew that he was embraced by Christ with no lesser grace of love. Nor is it unbelievable that both disciples followed the Lord's steps with their physical steps, for they had not yet understood what it meant when he commanded Peter [or, to Peter] to follow him. However, it is known to your fraternity who that disciple whom Jesus loved was, namely John himself, whose birthday feast we celebrate today, who wrote this Gospel, and therefore preferred to indicate his person by the signs of events, rather than by his own name. However, Jesus loved him not uniquely to the exclusion of the others, but more familiarly above the others whom he loved, made worthy of greater affection by the special prerogative of chastity. For he proves that he loves all indeed, to whom he speaks before his passion: As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love (John XV). But he loves this one above all, who, chosen by him as a virgin, remained a virgin forever. For histories record that he called him from the weddings when he wanted to marry; and therefore, because he turned him away from carnal desire, he gave him the sweeter gift of his own love. Finally, dying on the cross, he commended his mother to this one, so that a virgin might care for a virgin, and after his death and resurrection ascending into heaven, there would not be lacking to his mother a son, whose chaste life would care for her with chaste service. Blessed John also gives another sign of his person, adding: Who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, who is it that will betray you? How this happened, earlier parts of this Gospel show more fully; because indeed at the supper, which the Savior had with the disciples before his passion, in which he washed their feet, and handed over the mysteries of his body and blood to be celebrated, that disciple whom he loved reclined upon his breast. And when he had said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, that disciple responded, indicating to Peter to ask and say to him, Lord, who is it? The Lord said [Or, At], it is he whom I shall give the dipped bread. But that disciple who reclined upon the master's breast, was not only a sign of present affection, but also of the mystery of the future. For the Gospel that the same disciple was to write was already foreshadowed, which would comprehend more fully and loftily the secrets of divine majesty than the other pages of sacred Scripture. For in the breast of Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, he deservedly reclines upon his breast whom he endowed with the singular gift of greater wisdom and knowledge. For we know the other evangelists spoke more of the miracles of our Savior, fewer of his divinity: but John, writing very little of human acts, rather devoted himself to explaining the divine mysteries, clearly implying how great a flow of heavenly doctrine he had drawn from the breast of Jesus, which he expressed to us.
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Because blessed Peter had heard that he was to glorify God by suffering on the cross, he also wished to know about his brother and fellow disciple, by what kind of death he himself would pass into eternal life.
Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me." He said, that he did not wish him to be perfected by the suffering of martyrdom, but to wait for the last day without the violence of a persecutor, when He Himself, coming, would receive him into the abode of eternal happiness. And what is that to you? Just remember that you should follow me by undergoing the suffering of the cross. Indeed, the brethren at that time interpreted the Lord's response as if John would never die. But John himself took care to explain that it should not be understood in this way, who, having remarked that this saying went out among the brothers, that the disciple would not die, carefully added and said: "And Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, 'If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?'" Therefore, it should not be thought that the disciple did not die in the flesh, because neither did the Lord predict this about him. And the Psalmist said: "What man can live and not see death?" (Psalm 89). It should rather be understood that, while the other disciples of Christ were perfected by suffering, he awaited in the peace of the Church for the coming of his calling. This is what the Lord said: "If I want him to remain until I come," not that he did not endure many labors and pressures of evils for the Lord beforehand, but because he completed his old age in peace, having founded the churches of Christ through Asia far and wide. For in the Acts of the Apostles, he is also found to have been whipped along with the other apostles, when they went away rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus. And, thrown into a vat of boiling oil by Emperor Domitian, as narrated in ecclesiastical history, he yet emerged as unscathed, protected by divine grace, as he was free from the corruption of carnal desire. Not long afterward, the same prince exiled him to the island of Patmos due to his unstoppable perseverance in preaching the gospel. Though deprived of human comfort there, he was frequently consoled by divine visions and conversations: hence, on the same island, he wrote down the Apocalypse by his own hand, which the Lord revealed to him about the present or future state of the Church. Thus, it is clear that the promise that he would remain until the Lord came does not pertain to him living in the world without the toil of struggle, but rather that he would pass out of the world without the pain of suffering. For, as we find in the writings of the Fathers, when he knew that the day of his departure was near, exhausted by long old age, having summoned his disciples, giving them final exhortations and celebrating Mass, he bid them farewell: then, descending into the grave he had dug for himself, and having offered a prayer, he was placed with his fathers, found as free from the pain of death as from the corruption of the flesh. And thus, the truthful sentence of the Savior was fulfilled: that he wished him to remain until He Himself came. Moreover, we can mystically understand in the things predicted by the Lord about Peter and John, and what happened in them, the two lives of the Church in which she is exercised at present: namely, the active and the contemplative life, of which the active life is the common way of living for the people of God. However, to the contemplative life, very few ascend, eminent after the resurrection of holy action. For active life is for the diligent servant of Christ to persist in just labors, first keeping himself unspotted from this world, restraining mind, hand, tongue, and other members of the body from every act of wrongful temptation, and perpetually subjecting them to divine services. Then also addressing the needs of his neighbor according to his abilities, providing food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the cold, receiving the needy and the wandering into the house, visiting the sick, burying the dead, delivering the oppressed from the hand of the stronger, protecting the poor and needy from their robbers; but also showing the way of truth to those in error, and dedicating himself to the services of brotherly love, and even contending for justice unto death.
But the contemplative life is when someone, having been taught by long practice of good action, fortified by the sweetness of prolonged prayer, accustomed by the frequent contrition of tears, learns to be free from all the affairs of the world, and to focus the eye of the mind on love alone, and to begin to taste ardently in the present life the joy of everlasting beatitude which he is to experience in the future; and sometimes also, as far as is permitted to mortals, sublimely to soar in the contemplation of the rapture of the mind. This contemplative life of divine speculation most especially embraces those who, after long preliminary training in monastic virtue, know how to live secluded from men, having a mind freer to meditate upon heavenly things as they are separated from earthly disturbances. For indeed, as we have said, the active life proposes to be entered upon not only by monks in the monastery but by the entire people of God in general. Both apostles, namely Peter and John, while placed among men, were perfect in both lives because of the summit of their excellence in grace, yet one life is designated by Peter and the other by John. For in what the Lord says to Peter, "You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go," the perfection of the active life is expressed, which is usually tested by the fire of temptations. Whence He says elsewhere more clearly: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake." Fittingly he adds, saying: "Follow Me," because undoubtedly, according to Peter's own words, Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. But what He says about John, "So I want him to remain until I come," indicates the state of contemplative virtue, which is not to be ended by death like the active life, but is to be perfectly completed with the Lord coming after death. For indeed, active labor ceases with death, going to receive the eternal reward after death. Who in that life gives bread to the hungry, where no one is hungry? Who gives water to the thirsty, where no one thirsts? Who buries the dead, where the land is of the living? Who performs other works of mercy, where no one is miserable? There is therefore no labor of action there, but only the perpetual fruit of past action remains. The contemplative happiness, which begins here, is perfected endlessly there, when the presence of the heavenly citizens and of the Lord Himself will be seen not through a glass nor in a riddle, as now, but face to face. Whence aptly about it, under the figure of the disciple whom He loved, and who leaned on His bosom, the Lord says: "So I want him to remain until I come." As if He openly says: I do not want the taste of the sweetness of contemplation, which I especially love in my saints, those hoping in the protection of my wings, those made drunk with the abundance of my house, to end with the condition of death like the laborious use of action, but after death to be more sublimely completed by my appearing and bringing them into the sight of my majesty.
This is that disciple who testifies about these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. Now clearly blessed John designates himself by office, which he avoids designating by name. However, it should not be passed by what is said: He who testifies about these things and wrote these things. Indeed, he bore testimony by preaching the word of God, he bore testimony by writing, he bore testimony again in teaching the same things he had written: he also testifies now by the Gospel, which he described for the churches to be read, by explaining. From the time of the Lord's passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven until the last times of the principate of Domitian, over about sixty-five years, he preached the word of God without any written aid. But when he was sent into exile by Domitian, who was the second persecutor of Christians after Nero, heretics burst into the Church, like wolves into the sheepfolds deserted by the shepherd, Marcion, Cerinthus, and Ebion, and other Antichrists, who denied that Christ existed before Mary, tarnished the simplicity of the evangelical faith with perverse doctrine. But when he, after the death of Domitian, permitted by the pious prince Nerva, returned to Ephesus, he was compelled by almost all the bishops of Asia at that time and the delegations of many churches to speak more deeply about the coeternal divinity of Christ with the Father, because in the writings of the three evangelists, namely Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they seemed to have sufficient testimony about his humanity and the things he performed as a man. To this, he responded that he would not do otherwise unless all in common would fast and pray to the Lord, so that he might be able to write worthily. And having done this, instructed by revelation and inebriated with the grace of the Holy Spirit, he dispelled all the darkness of the heretics with the light of the unveiled truth. "In the beginning," he said, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And making his entire speech similar to the beginnings, he taught our Lord Jesus Christ with very clear assertion, both true man, truly made from man temporally, and also true God, truly born from God the Father eternally, truly always existing with the Father and the Holy Spirit, indeed he revealed the secrets of divine truth and true divinity as no other mortal was permitted. And this privilege was rightly reserved for the virgin, so that he himself might reveal the mysteries of the incorruptible Word with an incorrupt heart and body. He himself also took care to show how no one should doubt the truth of his words, who having said, "This is the disciple who testifies about these things and wrote these things," immediately added, "And we know that his testimony is true." Therefore, because we also know with the other faithful that his testimony is true, let us strive in every way to understand rightly by faith, and to practice rightly by action what he taught, in order to reach the eternal gifts which he promised, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.