Thought for the Day – 27 December – ‘He gives all for all and has all in all’ – St John the Beloved

Thought for the Day – 27 December – Feast of St John the Evangelist and the Third Day of the Christmas Octave

“There are [Saints] … who are so absorbed in the divine life, that they seem, even while they are in the flesh, to have no part in earth or in human nature but, to think, speak and act under views, affections and motives, simply supernatural.
If they love others, it is simply because they love God and because man is the object, either of His compassion , or of His praise.
If they rejoice, it is in what is unseen, if they feel interest, it is in what is unearthly, if they speak, it is almost with the voice of Angels, if they eat or drink, it is almost of Angels’ food alone – for it is recorded in their histories, that for weeks, they have fed on nothing else but that Heavenly Bread, which is the proper sustenance of the soul.

Such we may suppose, to have been St John!”

St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“The love of Jesus is noble and generous, it spurs us onto do great things and excites us to desire always, that which is most perfect.   Love will tend upwards and is not to be detained by things beneath.   Love will be at liberty and free from all worldly affections… for love proceeds from God and cannot rest but in God above all things created.   The lover flies, runs and rejoices, he is free and not held.   He gives all for all and has all in all, because he rests in one sovereign Good above all, from Whom all good flows and proceeds”

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter V, 3-4

St John, Beloved of the Lord, Pray for Us!