Eucharistic Readings:
Psalm 92 or 92:1-4, 11-14;
Exodus 33:18-23;
1 John 1:1-9;
John 21:19b-24Preface of the Incarnation
Daily Office Readings:
AM: Psalm 97, 98;
Proverbs 8:22-30;
John 13:20-35
PM: Psalm 145;
Isaiah 44:1-8;
1 John 5:1-12
PRAYER (traditional language)
Shed upon thy Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, the brightness of thy light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of thine apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that we may at length attain to the fullness of life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that
we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John,
may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to
the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This feast appears in Lesser Feasts & Fasts 2022 with revised lessons.
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Last updated: 31 Oct. 2020
JOHN
APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST (27 DEC NT)
John,
son of Zebedee, was one of the twelve apostles of Our Lord. Together with
his brother James and with Simon Peter, he formed a kind of inner circle
of Three among the Twelve, in that those three were privileged to behold
the miracle of the Great Catch of Fish (L 5:10), the healing of Peter's
mother-in-law (P 1:29), the raising of the daughter of Jairus (P 5:37
= L 8:51), the Transfiguration (M 17:1 = P 9:2 = L 9:28), and the Agony
in Gethsemane (M 26:37 = P 14:33). He expressed a willingness to undergo
martyrdom (M 20:22 = P 10:39) -- as did the other apostles (M 26:35 =
P 14:31) -- and is accordingly called a martyr in intention. However,
we have ancient testimony that, although imprisoned and exiled for his
testimony to the Gospel, he was eventually released and died a natural
death in Ephesus: "a martyr in will but not in deed."
John is credited with the authorship of three epistles and one Gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. He is also supposed by many to be the author of the book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, although this identification is less certain. For a discussion of the authorship of the Gospel of John, consult the Web page http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/CHRISTIA/library/john.html
by James Kiefer
Note: In the scripture references, "M" = Matthew, "P" = Mark, and "L" = Luke.