“Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8).

Tradition teaches that the other disciple was John, the author of this gospel and whose feast day we celebrate today. We do not know for sure what he saw that led him to believe. He mentioned a couple of times the burial cloths, including the one that covered Jesus’ head “rolled up in a separate place.” 

The cloths were there but Jesus was not. The rolled-up head cloth apart from the other burial clothes may seem an insignificant detail but even something that small could have caused the light bulb to go on in John’s mind. If someone stole Jesus’ body, they would not have taken the time to roll up the head covering, also thieves would most likely not have taken the burial cloths off a dead corpse. It would have been much easier and less revolting to carry the body with the burial clothes still in tact. Could it be that his body was not taken as Mary Magdalene had thought, and if this body then was not taken and the tomb is still empty, then Jesus conquered death and rose from the dead!

What is most important is that John saw something that led him to believe this truth, and this belief came to him before he experienced Jesus coming to them in the upper room. 

God communicates with each of us personally and uniquely as well. There are small and seemingly insignificant happenings in our everyday moments in which God is speaking to us, revealing to us his presence, and confirming that he is close. These are not mere coincidences but God-incidences. They also often happen at opportune times when we are discerning, needing a confirmation, or just an affirmation that we are not alone. 

“[T]he disciple whom Jesus loved”, again we believe to be John, “saw and believed.” A good practice for us today is to make some time to be still and remember times when we have experienced when Jesus has drawn close and communicated in some way at an opportune time. May we trust in his presence and resist the temptation to discount the God-incidences that we have experienced, be open to his reaching out to us in many and varied ways, and so come to believe as John did. Believe that Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this week lived, taught, died for us and  indeed rose from and conquered death, loves us, and is with us right now and will be by our sides in all we do.

Photo: Evening Rosary walk last night.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 27, 2023https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122723.cfm