Gospel of John Archives - Catholic Herald

Gospel of John

Praying for vocations and good shepherds

April 22, 2024

Yesterday, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. That is because on this Sunday, in all three-year liturgical cycles’ readings, the Church invites us to meditate on the Gospel of John. It is also known as Vocation Sunday, and dedicated to promoting vocations in the Catholic Church and encouraging individuals

‘I am the Good Shepherd’: Unraveling Jesus’s use of metaphorical names

April 21, 2024

“Of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.” (Acts 4:12) In Sunday’s first reading, St Peter extols the miraculous power of the name of Jesus, but in the Gospel, Jesus gives himself a metaphorical name: “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11).

The astonishing Fourth Gospel: teasing out the narrative of the one we call John

April 14, 2024

I hesitate to call the Fourth Gospel “John’s Gospel”, since there is no reliable sign that John had anything to do with its authorship. It is the gospel of the Beloved Disciple, but who was he? The Beloved Disciple is never given a name, and that is quite deliberate. He (or perhaps she – except

How doubting Thomas can inspire those of us who endure a ‘traumatised faith’

April 08, 2024

“Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” (John 20:25) Our lectionary’s translation of this verse from the Gospel of the second Sunday of Easter removes an

Who is the son referred to in ‘Woman, behold your son’ (John 19.26)?

March 29, 2024

Today, Good Friday, the Passion according to John will be read during the afternoon liturgy. We read those of Matthew, Mark and Luke once every three years, on Palm Sunday, but because John’s is read every year it is the most familiar. So familiar, in fact, that what is proposed here might come as something

‘Lent with the Beloved Disciple’: How St John reveals Jesus’s cosmic relevance for our lives

March 27, 2024

Lent with the Beloved Disciple Michael Marshall Bloomsbury, £10.99, 208 pages Michael Marshall turns to the writer of the Gospel of St John in ‘Lent With the Beloved Disciple’, which Bloomsbury have published as their Lent Book for 2024. Marshall has served in various roles in the Church of England and further afield; he was

Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, can we turn ‘our cross’ into love that is fruitful for others?

March 17, 2024

“When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32) In today’s Gospel, Jesus expresses his desire to save everyone by turning suffering into glory. It begins when some Greeks want to see Jesus and they approach one of his apostles who has a Greek name, Philip, who

Jesus’s wrath in the Temple: Why does Our Lord get angry and how does He get away with it?

February 29, 2024

“Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money-changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’” (John 2:15-16) In this coming Sunday’s Gospel, we have one