Being a Beloved Disciple

     Being someone’s “favorite” is special. It’s like being picked out of a crowd and acknowledged as having a special effect on another. It is a feeling of being loved, cherished and cared about, far above the attention we usually receive. It fills your heart with joy and puts a smile on your face!

     You may have experienced this special treatment from a parent, a sibling, a friend, a teacher, or spouse. Being loved this way makes you walk a little taller as you accept the gift of being “the one.” When you embrace this role, you are willing to do whatever is necessary to return the gift to the other – which allows them to know they are cherished as well!

     The apostle John was that special person to Our Lord. Along with Peter and James, he was in the “inner circle,” but with John it went ever further. He was the Beloved Disciple. He was the one to rest His head on the heart of Jesus at the Last Supper and the only apostle to stand by Jesus as He suffered crucifixion. He did not run and hide when all the others did. He loved Jesus with a pure and true love. A love which only thinks of the other, wants to bring comfort, never counting the cost.

     Are you a Beloved disciple to Jesus? Do you stand by Jesus when the crosses of life come your way, or do you flee out of fear or disdain like the other apostles? Do you desert Him or join Mary, John and the holy women in trying to bring comfort to our Lord?

     Love proves itself by deeds, and John did just that. Jesus tells us in Holy Scripture, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” ( Lk 9 vs 23). We must learn to accept the trials and tribulations that come into our lives, recognizing them as a share in the cross of Christ. Learning to unite our sufferings with Jesus’ will open a wealth of graces to help us to endure. Realizing this is priceless. What a gift it is, to be invited to share in the work of salvation: if we could only remember that when suffering comes our way!


     Becoming a Beloved Disciple is not an easy task. It was not easy for John either. He was a “Son of Thunder” before he became the Beloved Disciple. He had to learn from Jesus what loving truly meant. He had to learn humility, patience and trust. He had to learn how to focus his passion on God’s will in his life and not his own. He had to learn that to love is to suffer.

     It will take a tremendous amount of effort on our part to be faithful, day in and day out, as God purifies our love. We must accept the grace that He pours down upon us if we want to imitate John by following Jesus on the road to Calvary, and standing by Christ as He hangs on the Cross. Like John, we too can bring great comfort to our Lord as He gazes upon us, His Beloved Disciples.

     A story is told about a priest who asked married couples when it was that they realized their spouse truly loved them. The answers all varied with different special things that one spouse had done for the other. Although the examples were all ways of showing their love, it just wasn’t the answer the priest had in mind. Finally, one woman told him that she knew her husband really loved her when he suffered for her. Hearing her words, the priest’s face lit up! That was the very answer he was looking for . . . the answer that Jesus, our Crucified Love had given to us . . . the one He’s like to see returned to Him!

     Let us pray to our good God and St. John, for the grace to love Him so deeply, that we not only accept the crosses that are sent into our lives, but learn to embrace them. May we never tire in our efforts in striving to become a Beloved Disciple, and bring true comfort and love to our dear sweet Jesus, resting our heads upon His wounded Heart. His Heart poured out in love for us!