St. John the Evangelist: model and intercessor of priests
By: Rev. Fr. Paolo Miguel R. Cobangbang pCDC Teresian Carmelites of the Holy Face
Today, we commemorate the feast of Saint John the Evangelist. Of all the apostles of Jesus Christ, he was the only one who did not shed his blood for the sake of the Gospel. He was exiled in the lonely island of Patmos, from which, according to sacred Tradition, he saw the visions that make up the Book of the Apocalypse, the last book of Sacred Scripture.
He may be considered a model and an intercessor for priests. I myself belonging to the order of presbyters pray to him to make me a better priest. Here are the reasons why he is a model and intercessor for priests.
The life of the Apostle John is that of closeness to the Heart of Jesus. His Gospel is the most theological and most profound, as if he himself basked into the delights of the Sacred Heart. Scripture tells us that he placed his head on the bosom of Jesus during the Last Supper. He must have seen the fullness of Christ’s divinity in that instant.
We priests must always be attuned to the Heart of Jesus. Our priestly ministry cannot bear fruit if the heart of the priest is not in accordance with that of Jesus Christ. Saint John wrote about the Love of God in his epistles because he himself had the Heart of Jesus. We priests can only express our love as priests if our heart is exactly identical with that of Jesus’ heart.
Also, Saint John became family for the Blessed Virgin Mary right after Jesus entrusted her to Saint John’s care. Tradition holds that Saint John provided for our Blessed Mother’s needs, especially during the time when the Christian Faith is growing and the apostles were spreading the Gospel.
A priest is also close to the Holy Mother of God for the simple reason that She is the Mother of the One who we manifest as alter-Christus. No priest is ever effective in ministry if he cannot turn to the Blessed Mother. We also have the duty to spread her honor and devotion to her in our ministry: through our sermons, and our liturgies, as well as our deportment. She will tale good care of us priests and will keep us away from things that will ruin our vocation.
My dear friends, as we commemorate Saint John the Evangelist, let us pray for our priests, myself included, that they may be holy and effective priests. Our world is in the point where Charity indeed have gone cold, and we need priests — generous priests who would set the world aflame with the Love of God. Let us ask Saint John to kindle the fire of God’s love in the heart of each and every priest.
Fr. Paolo Miguel R. Cobangbang is a priest of the Old Roman Apostolate based in Biñan City, the Philippines. He is a postulant in the Congregation for Divine Charity and promoter of the Teresian Carmelites of the Holy Face.
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