Feast of St John the Evangelist

I was born on the Feast of St John the Evangelist and have always felt close to this most beloved of saints. His gospel is the text that speaks most clearly to me and, unsurprisingly perhaps, it was his name I took on my reception into the Church. Given my spiritual links and frequent encounters with Indian forms of spirituality I was fascinated to read “The Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism” by Ravi Ravindra (Inner Traditions, Rochester VT, USA). Billed as “a landmark in interfaith dialogue” by Huston Smith it is a very rich reading of the gospel from a non-Christian thinker born in India.

O glorious Apostle, who, on account of thy virginal purity, wast so beloved by Jesus as to deserve to lay thy head upon His divine breast, and to be left, in His place, as son to His most holy Mother: I beg thee to inflame me with a most ardent love toward Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me from our Lord that I, too, with a heart purified from earthly afflictions, may be made worthy to be ever united to Jesus as a faithful disciple, and to Mary as a devoted son, both here on earth and eternally in heaven. Amen.
(Prayer as promulgated by Pope Leo XIII)