After Pascha and before Ascension, we hear much of the Gospel of John in our services. We commemorate the Gospel writer on May 8, so I’m a tad late sharing this poem.

JOHN

This is the gospel of the primal light,
The first beginning, and the fruitful end,
The soaring glory of an eagle’s flight,
The quiet touch of a beloved friend.
This is the gospel of our transformation,
Water to wine and grain to living bread,
Blindness to sight and sorrow to elation,
And Lazarus himself back from the dead!
This is the gospel of all inner meaning,
The heart of heaven opened to the earth,
A gentle friend on Jesus’ bosom leaning,
And Nicodemus offered a new birth.
No need to search the heavens high above,
Come close with John, and feel the pulse of Love.

-Malcolm Guite

Father Malcolm Guite is an Anglican, and the Anglicans commemorate St. John the Theologian at Christmastime; he mentions that in his introduction to reading his sonnet, which you can listen to here:

“John”