(Holy Family of Nazareth)

How is it that Jesus had such sublime words on Love? And where did he learn the language of love?

God wanted to have Family as an icon of himself, so that in the exercise of domestic virtues, soul would become an oasis of peace, and would turn into gift.

Among the many possible ways he had of coming, he has chosen the forge of the hearth, because it remains the true school of loving kindness, the place in which the Creator’s design is fully manifested.

The family is the primer and syllabary of love because it is the image of the Trinity. In fact, the relationship of love between spouses, sustained by faith and prayer becomes poetry that supports, and does flourish.

The family together in mutual submission receives the eye of God and thus overcomes each trial.

From the intensity of relationship – which is a sign of the supernatural - then tenderness comes, the smile of the soul and an anticipation of paradise here on earth.

Spousal love: image of the Trinity that doesn't close itself, nor become narrow-minded. So: the nuclear family becomes a springboard for mission, a gateway to a reality without fences and barricades, the universal Family.

Jesus did experience of motherly love, of a mother's heart beating for her son, for it's in the mother's heart that the sons can find rest.

This is the characteristic of the feminine genius, in the experience of gestation before, and then in the life. The mother makes room inside for growth within the womb, and then feeding, educating and supporting, by welcoming, maturing and respecting the identity of the other...

Christ experienced paternal love, more manly and demanding maybe, but able to care and protect. He experienced a model of hard work, attention, (ready suitcases always) and presence.

Like us, Jesus lived the right to receive love, but he also satisfied the love of his parents. Because even filial love strengthens the family and helps not to disflake it.

In short, it's in the family that Jesus lived the experience of all the nuances of love, in the arms of Mary, and on Joseph's side. This is the model that the liturgy proposes today so that we too draw from the perennial sources and do not become dangerous crock pots, emptied and wandering.

Here's the secret...

In the Holy Family of Nazareth there was no opposition or resistance to the Word of God. Their life was not easy, but in contrast to what is happening around and maybe even in our homes, in moments of crisis, difficulties and even misfortunes were not a reason for mutual estrangement and collapse.

On the contrary, obstacles became a stimulus to dialogue, for union, for service towards the weaker one and (at the moment) most in need of help.

The couple have always moved together, in agreement and with heart and mind turned to God in making their choices. They did so, not to cultivate a selfishness circle, but to live a warmth that overflows.

For the Christian, the Family is the core of society and cannot be devalued, but it should not be considered or lived as an idol. Even Jesus at one point distanced himself from certain environmental constraints and opened himself to horizons of wider scope.

He was born into a Family, to become a citizen of every land, because every child is a gift from God to all humanity. Restricting the prospects and pleasing oneself to a small world of affections and interests that ignore universal fraternity means demeaning what remains a simple stage in a growth, to leap towards other destinations.

The Family is yes a small domestic Church wanted by God as a syllabary of the many nuances of love [sponsal, maternal, paternal, filial] but like ‘ferment’.

As a solid platform it must then allow us to boldly take flight, with a leap towards life.

(Homily to the young people of Taizé, Rome, December 30, 2012)

[St  Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (December 28, 2025)]

Mt 2:13-15,19-23 (13-23)

The dreams narrated by Matthew consist solely of the words of the Lord, which ask only to be actively accepted (Mt 1:20; 2:12-13, 19-22).

The evangelist addresses the communities of Galilee and Syria, which included Jewish Christians persecuted by the Synagogue, encouraging and inviting them to open their hearts to the Faith.

For this reason, in the stories of Jesus' childhood, he introduces the figure of a Family that believes in God's dreams, which are very different from the terrifying cunning of men and religions.

In the Gospels, the secret of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is precisely their renunciation of common opinions - of the normal plans of their surroundings - and their decision to make the Father's plan their own.

Our focolares too can discover the Lord's plan, both in external events and in intimate listening - moving forward together.

Thus, once again, Matthew invites us to reflect on the profound meaning of the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The cruelty of Herod - an exasperated egocentric - became proverbial even in Rome.

In his final years, absurdly withdrawn into a restless adherence to himself, he had three of his sons killed and issued a decree [not carried out due to his death] ordering the elimination of the most influential among the Jews - both to gradually eliminate the (perceived) pretenders to the throne and to quell dissent in the territory.

In the Gospel passage, the king is an icon of the will to power that kills those who recall the spirit of Christ's childhood: the Son of God placed his being in the Father's Mission.

[Such decentralised humility saves us not only in the order of grace, but also in that of human balance].

Matthew wrote his Gospel in response to the situation the Church was experiencing at a very critical moment.

After the year 70, the only groups that survived the destruction of Judaism were the Messianic Christians and the Pharisees - both convinced that armed struggle against the Roman Empire had nothing to do with the fulfilment of the Promises.

Not many years after the disaster in Jerusalem, the Pharisee sect, now deprived of its place of worship - the centre of national identity - began to organise itself in order to centralise the government of the synagogues.

Accused of betraying their particular culture and customs, the Judaizers who recognised Jesus as the Son of God were eventually expelled from the synagogues themselves.

The growing opposition and then the explicit separation from the people of the Covenant exacerbated the confusion of the faithful and the problem of the very identity of the first assemblies of Faith, groups that were clearly suffering.

Matthew encourages them to avoid defections, supporting those who had received the harsh excommunication from the leaders of popular religiosity, who until then had been admired for their marked devotion and held in high esteem.

To help overcome the trauma, the Good News addressed to converts of Jewish origin sought to reveal Jesus as the true fulfilment of the Prophecies and the authentic Messiah - in the figure of the new Moses who fulfils the promises of liberation.

Like him, persecuted, he had to move and flee incessantly (cf. Ex 4:19).

According to a widespread belief in Judaism, the time of the Lord's Anointed One would bring back the time of Moses.

But the ancient leader of 'the Mountain' had imposed a relationship between God and the people based on the banal obedience to a Law.

The genuine and transparent Son, on the other hand, now offers his brothers and sisters in Faith a creative relationship of bliss and communion based on Similarity.

This relationship is called to surpass the ancient justice of the Pharisees (Mt 5:20).

So, let us not fear - even for ourselves - the harassment that is simply to be expected.

Rather, let us see it as an opportunity to bear witness to love and strong involvement in the very story of the Master - reinterpreted in the first person.

Here, too, is indicated a new path of seeking the Light or Star that guides our steps.

Everything like the Magi - foreigners, yet authentic worshippers of the Lord.

They knew how to avoid the vigilance of the sovereign - so they found their own dwelling place, deviating from the planned route.

Like the Envoy of God par excellence who experienced the same fate as his people, the churches of all times can live in Him an identical story of Exodus.

An unprecedented journey, a hotbed of exploration and change of mentality; of consolation and more vivid hopes - with inexorable contrasts.

Christ is the hidden and persecuted Messiah, founder of a new, humble and fraternal People. The seed of an alternative society to the ruthless one in the field.

The crowning of the hopes of all men.

The rejection of the Lord's Way itself casts a dark atmosphere: it becomes the preservation of the beastly.

Rejection of humanisation... whose cure lies in the trust of the 'little ones', in the youthful and 'childish' audacity that knows no impossibility.

The innocent children of that extermination are figures of the children of God of every century, as 'peers' of Jesus, capable of re-actualising his spontaneous time - contrary to violence and death.

They are the persecuted and killed because of the paradoxical subversive force of their tender Faith as tiny and sincere beings who allow themselves to be saved and do not care about roles.

The opposite of the servile and flattering, devoured by calculation; always ready to defer to the ferocious holders of power. Intimidated by the possibility that a soft and frail form of life could destabilise their positions.

But in the event of serious oppression, even the energy of sadness that runs through painful events (vv. 17-18) will make us rediscover what really matters.

This will allow us to be reborn (in tears, in darkness), separating us too from that kind of character.

In Matthew's theology, Jesus is the 'firstborn son' who supplants the chosen people [here, the people that God went to fetch in Egypt].

The eminent Son re-proposes the Exodus of his people: in Him, the ancient story - including that of the sons of Jacob - is revived for a renewed and now unpostponable Liberation.

Involved in all the trials and tribulations, the Lord wants to walk together with us on the path towards our emancipation.

He is the fullness of the Holy Scriptures: the complete culmination of the Law and the Prophets.

In fact, in the Gospel passage, references to Christ as the new Moses are clear: he escaped the massacre and fled his own land.

In short, the evangelist wants to emphasise that with Jesus, the authentic Exodus towards fulfilment began - where milk and honey flow [cf. Ex 3:5-8], that is, where God Himself is present.

The Promised Land is not a physical place - coveted and renowned as that reserved for the priestly class, with sacred enclosures or courtyards (vv. 22-23).

Its appeal is extended even to pagans!

In Matthew's Gospel, this is evident from the outset (genealogy) and from the first to pay homage to the newborn; from the persecutions, the flights, the 'clandestine' return (v. 23).

The Kingdom of God begins - not by chance - in Nazareth: a place of people still considered cavemen; from a landless family, exposed and defenceless - but not degenerate...

This is why it sets us free.

From childhood, Jesus participates in the perilous events of his people.

According to the ancient mentality, all this means that He is united with the fate of the People of God throughout his life.

Here, Egypt is an icon both of a land of refuge and of a land from which to leave again - to establish a different reality of innocent mothers and fathers.

A small flock; a remnant of Israel, with which Christ identified himself.

As in the story of Moses, the opposing forces are overwhelming, yet they cannot destroy the energies of genuine Life, which will triumph over the powers of death.

To internalise and live the message:

In realising yourself in Christ, how have you broken down the prison of common thinking, of power, and of its fears?

How has the example of the ecclesial family helped you?

The reflective aspect of the House of Nazareth

The house of Nazareth is the school where we began to understand the life of Jesus, that is, the school of the Gospel. Here we learn to observe, to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the profound and mysterious meaning of this manifestation of the Son of God, so simple, humble and beautiful. Perhaps we also learn, almost without realising it, to imitate. Here we learn the method that will allow us to know who Christ is. Here we discover the need to observe the picture of his stay among us: that is, the places, times, customs, language, sacred rites, in short, everything that Jesus used to manifest himself to the world. Here everything has a voice, everything has a meaning. Here, in this school, we certainly understand why we must maintain spiritual discipline if we want to follow the doctrine of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ. Oh! How willingly we would like to return as children and enrol in this humble and sublime school of Nazareth! How ardently we would like to start again, close to Mary, to learn the true science of life and the superior wisdom of divine truths! But we are only passing through, and we must set aside our desire to continue learning, in this house, the never-ending formation of the intelligence of the Gospel. However, we will not leave this place without having gathered, almost furtively, some brief admonitions from the house of Nazareth.
First of all, it teaches us silence. Oh! If only the esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit, were reborn in us, while we are stunned by so much noise, clamour and loud voices in the agitated and tumultuous life of our time. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be steadfast in good thoughts, intent on the inner life, ready to hear well the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of true teachers. Teach us how important and necessary are the work of preparation, study, meditation, the interiority of life, prayer, which God alone sees in secret. Here we understand the way of family life. May Nazareth remind us what family is, what the communion of love is, its austere and simple beauty, its sacred and inviolable character; may it show us how sweet and irreplaceable education in the family is, may it teach us its natural function in the social order. Finally, let us learn the lesson of work. O dwelling place of Nazareth, home of the carpenter's Son! Here above all we wish to understand and celebrate the law, severe certainly but redemptive of human toil; here to ennoble the dignity of work so that it may be felt by all; to remember under this roof that work cannot be an end in itself, but that it receives its freedom and excellence not only from what is called economic value, but also from what turns it to its noble end; here, finally, we wish to greet the workers of the whole world and show them the great model, their divine brother, the prophet of all the just causes that concern them, namely Christ our Lord.

[Pope Paul VI, Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth, 5 January 1964]

Dear brothers and sisters […] we are joyfully celebrating the Holy Family of Nazareth. It is a most suitable context because Christmas is the Feast of the family par excellence. This is demonstrated by numerous traditions and social customs, especially the practice of gathering together as a family for festive meals and for greetings and the exchange of gifts; and how can the hardship and suffering caused by certain family wounds which on these occasions are amplified go unnoticed? Jesus willed to be born and to grow up in a human family; he had the Virgin Mary as his mother and Joseph who acted as his father; they raised and educated him with immense love. Jesus' family truly deserves the title "Holy", for it was fully engaged in the desire to do the will of God, incarnate in the adorable presence of Jesus. On the one hand, it was a family like all others and as such, it is a model of conjugal love, collaboration, sacrifice and entrustment to divine Providence, hard work and solidarity in short, of all those values that the family safeguards and promotes, making an important contribution to forming the fabric of every society. At the same time, however, the Family of Nazareth was unique, different from all other families because of its singular vocation linked to the mission of the Son of God. With precisely this uniqueness it points out to every family and in the first place to Christian families God's horizon, the sweet and demanding primacy of his will, the prospect of Heaven to which we are all destined. For all this, today we thank God, but also the Virgin Mary and St Joseph, who with much faith and willingness cooperated in the Lord's plan of salvation.

(Pope Benedict, Angelus, 28 December 2008)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

1. […] Church is celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family. 

As at the crib, in a glance of faith we embrace together the divine Child and the persons beside him: his most holy Mother and Joseph, his putative father. What light shines from this Christmas “group icon”! A light of mercy and salvation for the whole world, a light of truth for every person, for the human family and for individual families. How lovely it is for spouses to be reflected in the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph! How comforting for parents, especially if they have a small baby! How enlightening for engaged couples, struggling with their plans for life! 

To gather round the Bethlehem grotto contemplating there the Holy Family, enables us to appreciate the gift of family intimacy in a special way, and spurs us to offer human warmth and concrete solidarity in those unfortunately numerous situations which, for various reasons, lack peace, harmony, in a word, lack “family”. 

2. The message that comes from the Holy Family is first of all a message of faith: the family of Nazareth is a home which truly centres on God. For Mary and Joseph, this choice of faith becomes concrete in their service to the Son of God entrusted to their care, but it is also expressed in their mutual love, rich in spiritual tenderness and fidelity. 

With their life, they teach that marriage is a covenant between man and woman, a covenant that involves reciprocal fidelity and rests upon their common trust in God. Such a noble, profound and definitive covenant, as to constitute for believers the sacrament of love of Christ and of the Church. The spouses’ fidelity stands like a solid rock on which the children’s trust rests. 

When parents and children together breathe this atmosphere of faith they have a ready energy that enables them to face even difficult trials, as the Holy Family’s experience shows. 

3. […] I commend to Mary “Queen of the family” all the world’s families, especial- ly those that are encountering serious difficulties, and I invoke her motherly protection upon them.

(Pope John Paul II, Angelus, 29 December 1996)

A few days after Christmas, the liturgy invites us to turn our eyes to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It is good to reflect on the fact that the Son of God wanted to be in need of the warmth of a family, like all children. Precisely for this reason, because it is Jesus’ family, the family of Nazareth is the model family, in which all families of the world can find their sure point of reference and sure inspiration. In Nazareth, the springtime of the human life of the Son of God began to blossom at the moment he was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit in the virginal womb of Mary. Within the welcoming walls of the House of Nazareth, Jesus’ childhood unfolded in joy, surrounded by the maternal attention of Mary and the care of Joseph, in whom Jesus was able to see God’s tenderness (cf. Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, 2).

In imitation of the Holy Family, we are called to rediscover the educational value of the family unit: it requires being founded on the love that always regenerates relationships, opening up horizons of hope. Within the family one can experience sincere communion when it is a house of prayer, when affections are serious, profound, pure, when forgiveness prevails over discord, when the daily harshness of life is softened by mutual tenderness and serene adherence to God’s will. In this way, the family opens itself up to the joy that God gives to all those who know how to give joyfully. At the same time, it finds the spiritual energy to be open to the outside world, to others, to  serving brothers and sisters, to cooperation in building an ever new and better world; capable, therefore, of becoming a bearer of positive stimuli; the family evangelizes by the example of life. It is true that  there are problems, and at times arguments in every family. “Father, I  argued...”. But we are human, we are weak, and we all quarrel within the family at times. I will tell you something: if you quarrel within the family, do not end the day without making peace. “Yes, I quarrelled”, but before the end of the day, make peace. And do you know why? Because a cold war, day after day, is extremely dangerous. It does not help. And then, in the family there are three words, three phrases that must always be held dear: “Excuse me”, “Thank you”, and “Sorry”. “Excuse me”, so as not to be intrusive in the life of others. “Excuse me: may I do something? Do you think I can do this? Excuse me”. Always, not being intrusive. “Excuse me”, the first phrase. “Thank you”: so much help, so much service that we do for one another within the family. Always say thank you. Gratitude is the lifeblood of the noble soul. “Thank you”. And then, the hardest one to say: “I am sorry”. Because we always do some bad things and  often someone is offended by this: “I am sorry”, “I am sorry”. Do not forget the three phrases: “excuse me”, “thank you”, and “I am sorry”. If there are these three phrases in a family, in a family environment, then the family is fine.

Today’s feast reminds us of the example of evangelizing with the family, proposing to us once again the ideal of conjugal and family love, as underlined in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, promulgated five years ago this coming 19 March. And there will be a year of reflection on Amoris laetitia and it will be an opportunity to focus more closely on the contents of the document [19 March 2021-June 2022]. These reflections will be made available to ecclesial communities and families, to accompany them on their journey. As of now, I invite everyone to take part in the initiatives that will be promoted throughout the Year and that will be coordinated by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life. Let us entrust this journey with the families of the whole world to the Holy Family of Nazareth, in particular to Saint Joseph, attentive spouse and father.

May the Virgin Mary, whom we now address with the Angelus prayer, grant that families throughout the world be increasingly fascinated by the evangelical ideal of the Holy Family, so as to become leaven of a new humanity and of a concrete and universal solidarity.

[Pope Francis, Angelus, 27 December 2020]

In order not to weaken the personal Encounter

(Jn 20:2-8)

In Jn the beloved disciple at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother is the figure of each one, and of the new community that is born around Jesus.

Rises the Church; not on the basis of a planned succession, but by full and spontaneous adhesion.

In Asia Minor the Lord’s friends, Hellenists less bound to custom, intended to oppose the uncertain and compromissory attitude of the Judaizers.

Most of the faithful of the Johannine churches thought of abandoning the synagogue and the First Testament, which delayed them.

Alternatively, they wished to embrace exclusively the New, through personal Faith in the living Christ, without uncertainty.

The Fourth Gospel attempts to rebalance extremist positions.

"Son" and Mother - that is, the people of the ancient Covenant [in Hebrew «Israel» is of the female gender] - must remain united (Jn 19:26-27).

In short, Faith and ‘works of law’ go hand in hand.

Faith is a progressive relationship that ignites in a ‘searching’ full of tension and passion [«to run»].

It conveys progressive perceptions, which give access to a new world [«to enter»], where we ‘see’ things we do not know.

This had already been in part the dismayed reaction of Mary Magdalene, who in Jn rushes alone to the tomb - not accompanied by other "women" as the Synoptics narrate.

A dismay that, however, pushes to the Announcement: the sepulcher (the condition of the Sheol, a ravine of darkness) was no longer in the arrangement in which it had been left after the burial of Christ.

And in fact, that «rewound [carefully] apart» sheet says it will never need any shroud. Death no longer has power over Him.

Thus, although the young man is faster than the veteran and arrives first to spot the signs of truth and the new world, he gives way and primacy.

Like a prophet who grasps everything ahead of time, the sincere disciple and the genuine community wait for even the slowest to come to the same experience, to the identical acumen of things; to believe in the mysterious process that brings gain in the loss and life from the death.

The eye of the fell in love immediately «perceives»; he has an intimate and acute gaze that grasps and makes its own the Novelty of the Risen One.

Earlier than mere admirers, the empathetic and true brother «catches Life amid signs of death».

As if by the relationship of Faith that animates us, in the attention of events, we were already introduced into a reality that communicates ‘new senses’. And the distinguish-and-hear of the heart.

A Listening that makes the eye sharp - projecting the Announcement.

In this way, a new People arises, which "sees inside", which feels the Infinite appearing in finiteness, and complete life that is revealed in the fragility of the (even obscure) event.

Perhaps not a few people are still surprised by the 'empty tomb': that is, a Risen Jesus only 'personal', lived in love, in the free normal, in the self-giving that overcomes death. But without any 'mausoleum'.

The Beloved Disciple - flowed from the Heart of the Pierced Jesus and who also brings Tradition to the top - in his sensitivity ‘intuits’ the living Lord well ahead of the one commemorated.

He is kidnapped from it, and in his experience he instantly ‘realizes’ the power of Life on any tie up.

Divine condition, enlightening, unfolded in history.

[St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, December 27]

John, son of Zebedee

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Let us dedicate our meeting today to remembering another very important member of the Apostolic College: John, son of Zebedee and brother of James. His typically Jewish name means: "the Lord has worked grace". He was mending his nets on the shore of Lake Tiberias when Jesus called him and his brother (cf. Mt 4: 21; Mk 1: 19).

John was always among the small group that Jesus took with him on specific occasions. He was with Peter and James when Jesus entered Peter's house in Capernaum to cure his mother-in-law (cf. Mk 1: 29); with the other two, he followed the Teacher into the house of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter he was to bring back to life (cf. Mk 5: 37); he followed him when he climbed the mountain for his Transfiguration (cf. Mk 9: 2).

He was beside the Lord on the Mount of Olives when, before the impressive sight of the Temple of Jerusalem, he spoke of the end of the city and of the world (cf. Mk 13: 3); and, lastly, he was close to him in the Garden of Gethsemane when he withdrew to pray to the Father before the Passion (cf. Mk 14: 33).

Shortly before the Passover, when Jesus chose two disciples to send them to prepare the room for the Supper, it was to him and to Peter that he entrusted this task (cf. Lk 22: 8).

His prominent position in the group of the Twelve makes it somewhat easier to understand the initiative taken one day by his mother: she approached Jesus to ask him if her two sons - John and James - could sit next to him in the Kingdom, one on his right and one on his left (cf. Mt 20: 20-21).

As we know, Jesus answered by asking a question in turn: he asked whether they were prepared to drink the cup that he was about to drink (cf. Mt 20: 22). The intention behind those words was to open the two disciples' eyes, to introduce them to knowledge of the mystery of his person and to suggest their future calling to be his witnesses, even to the supreme trial of blood.

A little later, in fact, Jesus explained that he had not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. Mt 20: 28).

In the days after the Resurrection, we find "the sons of Zebedee" busy with Peter and some of the other disciples on a night when they caught nothing, but that was followed, after the intervention of the Risen One, by the miraculous catch: it was to be "the disciple Jesus loved" who first recognized "the Lord" and pointed him out to Peter (cf. Jn 21: 1-13).

In the Church of Jerusalem, John occupied an important position in supervising the first group of Christians. Indeed, Paul lists him among those whom he calls the "pillars" of that community (cf. Gal 2: 9). In fact, Luke in the Acts presents him together with Peter while they are going to pray in the temple (cf. Acts 3: 1-4, 11) or appear before the Sanhedrin to witness to their faith in Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4: 13, 19).

Together with Peter, he is sent to the Church of Jerusalem to strengthen the people in Samaria who had accepted the Gospel, praying for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 8: 14-15). In particular, we should remember what he affirmed with Peter to the Sanhedrin members who were accusing them: "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4: 20).

It is precisely this frankness in confessing his faith that lives on as an example and a warning for all of us always to be ready to declare firmly our steadfast attachment to Christ, putting faith before any human calculation or concern.

According to tradition, John is the "disciple whom Jesus loved", who in the Fourth Gospel laid his head against the Teacher's breast at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13: 23), stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother of Jesus (cf. Jn 19: 25) and lastly, witnessed both the empty tomb and the presence of the Risen One himself (cf. Jn 20: 2; 21: 7).

We know that this identification is disputed by scholars today, some of whom view him merely as the prototype of a disciple of Jesus. Leaving the exegetes to settle the matter, let us be content here with learning an important lesson for our lives: the Lord wishes to make each one of us a disciple who lives in personal friendship with him.

To achieve this, it is not enough to follow him and to listen to him outwardly: it is also necessary to live with him and like him. This is only possible in the context of a relationship of deep familiarity, imbued with the warmth of total trust. This is what happens between friends; for this reason Jesus said one day: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.... No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15: 13, 15).

In the apocryphal Acts of John, the Apostle is not presented as the founder of Churches nor as the guide of already established communities, but as a perpetual wayfarer, a communicator of the faith in the encounter with "souls capable of hoping and of being saved" (18: 10; 23: 8).

All is motivated by the paradoxical intention to make visible the invisible. And indeed, the Oriental Church calls him quite simply "the Theologian", that is, the one who can speak in accessible terms of the divine, revealing an arcane access to God through attachment to Jesus.

Devotion to the Apostle John spread from the city of Ephesus where, according to an ancient tradition, he worked for many years and died in the end at an extraordinarily advanced age, during the reign of the Emperor Trajan.

In Ephesus in the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian had a great basilica built in his honour, whose impressive ruins are still standing today. Precisely in the East, he enjoyed and still enjoys great veneration.

In Byzantine iconography he is often shown as very elderly - according to tradition, he died under the Emperor Trajan - in the process of intense contemplation, in the attitude, as it were, of those asking for silence.

Indeed, without sufficient recollection it is impossible to approach the supreme mystery of God and of his revelation. This explains why, years ago, Athenagoras, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the man whom Pope Paul VI embraced at a memorable encounter, said: "John is the origin of our loftiest spirituality. Like him, "the silent ones' experience that mysterious exchange of hearts, pray for John's presence, and their hearts are set on fire" (O. Clément, Dialoghi con Atenagora, Turin 1972, p. 159).

May the Lord help us to study at John's school and learn the great lesson of love, so as to feel we are loved by Christ "to the end" (Jn 13: 1), and spend our lives for Him.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 5 July 2006]

1. We meet at the liturgical time of Christmas. I want, therefore, the words that I am about to address to you today, to correspond to the joy of this feast and this octave. I also want them to correspond to that simplicity and at the same time that depth which Christmas irradiates over everyone. There comes to my mind spontaneously the memory of my feelings and my experiences, beginning from the years of my childhood in my father's house, through the difficult years of youth, the period of the second war, the world war. May it never be repeated in the history of Europe and of the world! Yet, even in the worst years, Christmas has always brought some rays with it. And these rays penetrated even the hardest experiences of contempt for man, annihilation of his dignity, of cruelty. To realize this, it is enough to pick up the memories of men who have passed through the prisons or concentration camps, the war fronts and the interrogations and trials. A gleam of faith

This ray of Christmas Night, a ray of the birth of God, is not only a memory of the lights of the tree beside the crib at home, in the family or in the parish church. It is something more. It is the deepest glimpse of humanity visited by God, humanity newly received and assumed by God himself; assumed in the Son of Mary in the unity of the Divine Person: the Son-Word. Human nature assumed mystically by the Son of God in each of us who have been adopted in the new union with the Father. The irradiation of this mystery extends far, very far, and even reaches those parts and those spheres of men's existence, in which any thought of God has been almost obscured and seems to be absent, as if it were burnt out completely. And lo, with Christmas night a gleam appears: perhaps in spite of everything? Happy this "perhaps in spite of everything" ... it is already a gleam of faith and hope.

2. In the festivity of Christmas we read of the pastors of Bethlehem who were the first to be called to the crib, to see the new-born Child: "And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." (Lk 2: 16.)

Let us stop at that "found". This word indicates a search. In fact, the shepherds of Bethlehem, when they stopped to rest with their flock, did not know that the time had come in which would happen that which had been announced for centuries by the prophets of that People to which they themselves belonged; and that it would happen just on that night; and that it would take place near the place where they had stopped. Even after wakening up from the sleep in which they were immersed, they did not know either what had happened or where it had happened. Their arrival at the cave of the Nativity was the result of a search. But at the same time they had been led, they were—as we read—guided by the voice and by the light. And if we go back even further in the past, we see them guided by the tradition of their People, by its expectation. We know that Israel had been promised the Messiah.

And lo, the Evangelist speaks of the simple, the humble, the poor of Israel: of the shepherds who found Him for the first time. He speaks, moreover, in all simplicity, as if it were a question of an "exterior" event: they looked for where he might be, and finally they found him. At the same time this "found" of Luke's indicates an inner dimension: that which took place on that Christmas night, in men, in those simple pastors of Bethlehem. "They found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger"; and then: " ... the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." (Lk 2:16, 20.)

3. "Found" indicates "a search". Man is a being who seeks. His whole history confirms it. Even the life of each of us bears witness to it. Many are the fields in which man seeks and seeks again and then finds and, sometimes, after having found, he begins to seek again. Among all these fields in which man is revealed as a being who seeks, there is one, the deepest. It is the one which penetrates most intimately into the very humanity of the human being. And it is the one most closely united with the meaning of the whole of human life.

Man is the being who seeks God. The ways of this search vary. The histories of human souls just along these paths are multiple. Sometimes the ways seem very simple and near. At other times they are difficult, complicated, distant. Now man arrives easily at his "eureka": "I have found!". Now he struggles with difficulties, as if he could not penetrate himself and the world, and above all as if he could not understand the evil that there is in the world. It is known that even in the context of the Nativity this evil has shown its threatening face.

A good many men have described their search for God along the ways of their own lives. Even more numerous are those who are silent, considering everything they have lived along these ways as their own deepest and most intimate mystery: what they experienced, how they searched, how they lost their sense of direction and how they found it again.

Man is the being who seeks God.

And even after having found him, he continues to seek him. And if he seeks him sincerely, he has already found him; as, in a famous fragment of Pascal, Jesus says to man: "Take comfort, you would not be looking for me if you had not already found me." (B. Pascal, Pensées, 553: Le mystère de Jésus.)

This is the truth about man.

It cannot be falsified. Nor can it be destroyed. It must be left to man because it defines him.

What can be said of atheism in the light of this truth? A great many things should be said, more than can be enclosed in the framework of this short address of mine. But at least one thing must be said: it is indispensable to apply a criterion, that is, the criterion of the freedom of the human spirit. Atheism cannot be reconciled with this criterion—a fundamental criterion—either when it denies a priori that man is the being that seeks God, or when it mutilates this search in various ways in social, public and cultural life. This attitude is contrary to the fundamental rights of man.

4. But I do not wish to dwell on this. If I mention it, I do so to show all the beauty and dignity of the search for God.

This thought was suggested to me by the feast of Christmas.

How was Christ born? How did he come into the world? Why did he come into the world?

He came into the world in order that men may be able to find him; those who look for him. Just as the shepherds found him in the cave at Bethlehem.

I will say even more. Jesus came into the world to reveal the whole dignity and nobility of the search for God, which is the deepest need of the human soul, and to meet the search halfway.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 27 December 1978]

In the passage of the Gospel we have heard (cf. Jn 20: 1-8), John tells us of that unimaginable morning that changed forever the history of humanity. Let us imagine it, that morning: at the first light of dawn of the day after Saturday, around the tomb of Jesus, everyone starts running. Mary of Magdala runs to warn the disciples; Peter and John run towards the tomb ... Everyone runs, everyone feels the urgency to move: there is no time to waste, we must hurry ... As Mary had done – remember? – as soon as conceived was Jesus, to go to help Elizabeth.

We have many reasons to run: often just because there are so many things to do and there is never enough time. Sometimes we hurry because we are attracted by something new, beautiful, or interesting. Sometimes, on the contrary, we run to escape from a threat, from a danger...

The disciples of Jesus run because they have received the news that the body of Jesus has disappeared from the grave. The hearts of Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and John are full of love and beat wildly after the separation that seemed definitive. Perhaps the hope of seeing the face of the Lord again is rekindled in them! As on that first day when he had promised: “Come and see” (Jn 1:39). The one who runs the fastest is John, certainly because he is younger, but also because he has never ceased to hope after seeing Jesus die on the cross with his own eyes; and also because he was close to Mary, the Mother, and in this way he has been “infected” by her faith. When we feel that faith is weaker or tepid, let us go to Her, Mary, and She will teach us, she will understand, she will make us feel the faith.

Since that morning, dear young people, history has no longer been the same. That morning changed history. The hour when death seemed to triumph, is shown in reality to be the time of its defeat. Even that heavy boulder, placed before the tomb, could not resist. And from that dawn of the first day after Saturday, every place where life is oppressed, every space in which violence, war, misery dominate, where man is humiliated and trampled – in that place a hope of life can still be rekindled.

Dear friends, you set off and have come to this meeting. And now my joy is to feel that your hearts beat with love for Jesus, like those of Mary Magdalene, of Peter, and of John. And because you are young, I, like Peter, am happy to see you run faster, like John, driven by the impulse of your heart, sensitive to the voice of the Spirit that inspires your dreams. This is why I say to you: do not be content with the prudent step of those who wait at the end of the line. do not be content with the prudent step of those who wait at the end of the line. It takes courage to risk a leap forward, a bold and daring leap to dream and realize like Jesus the Kingdom of God, and to commit yourselves to a more fraternal humanity. We need fraternity: take risks, go ahead!

I will be happy to see you running faster than those in the Church who are a little slow and fearful, attracted by that much-loved Face, which we adore in the Holy Eucharist and recognize in the flesh of our suffering brother. May the Holy Spirit drive you in this race forward. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We are in need! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us, as John waited for Peter before the empty tomb. And another thing: walking together, these days, you have experienced how hard it can be to welcome the brother or sister who is next to me, but also how much joy his presence can give me if I receive this in my life without prejudice or a narrow mind. Walking alone allows us to be freed from everything, and perhaps faster, but walking together makes us become a people, the people of God. The people of God that gives us security, the security of belonging to the people of God ... And with God’s people you feel safe, in the people of God, in your belonging to the people of God you have an identity. An African proverb says: “If you want to go fast, run alone. If you want to go far, go with someone”.

The Gospel says that Peter first entered the tomb and saw the cloths on the ground and the shroud folded in a separate place. Then the other disciple also entered, who, the Gospel says, “saw and believed” (verse 8). This pair of verbs is very important: seeing and believing. Throughout the Gospel of John it is said that the disciples, seeing the signs that Jesus performed, believed in Him. Seeing and believing. What signs are these? Water transformed into wine for the wedding; some sick people healed; a blind man who gains his sight; a large crowd satiated with five loaves and two fish; and the resurrection of His friend Lazarus, who died four days beforehand. In all these signs, Jesus reveals the invisible face of God.

It is not a representation of the sublime divine perfection that transpires from the signs of Jesus, but the story of human frailty that meets the Grace that lifts up again. There is the wounded humanity that is healed by the encounter with the Master; there is the fallen man who finds an outstretched hand to cling to; there is the loss of the defeated who discover a hope of redemption. And John, when he enters Jesus’ tomb, carries in his eyes and in his heart those signs given by Jesus, immersing himself in the human drama to revive him. Jesus Christ, dear young people,  is not a hero immune from death, but rather He who transforms it with the gift of His life. And that carefully folded sheet says it will no longer be needed: death no longer has power over Him.

Dear young people, is it possible to encounter Life in places where death reigns? Yes, it is possible. We would want to say no, that it is better to stay away, keep far away. Yet this is the revolutionary novelty of the Gospel: Christ’s empty tomb becomes the last sign in which the definitive victory of Life shines forth. So we are not afraid! We do not stay away from the places of suffering, of defeat, of death. God has given us a power greater than all the injustices and fragility of history, greater than our sin: Jesus conquered death by giving His life for us. And He sends us forth to announce to our brothers that He is the Risen One, He is the Lord, and He gives us His Spirit to sow with Him the Kingdom of God. That morning of Easter Sunday changed history, let us have courage.

How many tombs, so to say, await our visit today! How many wounded people, even young ones, have sealed their suffering by placing, as they say, a stone on top of it? With the power of the Spirit and the Word of Jesus we can move those boulders and let beams of light enter into those ravines of darkness.

The journey to Rome was beautiful and tiring; think, how much effort, but how much beauty! But equally beautiful and challenging will be the return journey to your homes, to your countries and to your communities. Undertake it with the trust and energy of John, the “beloved disciple”. Yes, the secret is there – in being and knowing that you are “loved”, “loved” by Him, by Jesus, the Lord, He loves us! And each one of us, returning home, put this in your heart and in your mind: Jesus, the Lord, loves me. Undertake with courage and with joy the path towards home, take it with the awareness o being beloved by Jesus. Then life becomes a good race, without anxiety, without fear, that word that destroys us. Without anxiety and without fear. A race towards Jesus and to your brothers, with a heart full of love, faith and joy: go like this!

[Pope Francis, Final Reflection at the Prayer Vigil at the Circus Maximus 11 August 2018]