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Don’t Fuel the Rumors
4 min
Gospel
Jn 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw following them the
disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said,
“Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus,
“Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I
come, what is that to you? Follow me!” The saying spread abroad among the brethren that
this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but,
“If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who
has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one
of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that
would be written.
Readings are taken from Dynamic Catholic’s Bible: RSV Catholic Edition.
It’s time to take back your life.
It’s time to slow down to the speed of joy.
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Transcript
Don’t Fuel the Rumors
Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly and
welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of the gospel,
the genius of Catholicism, the genius of Jesus, and each day looking for a word or a
phrase or an idea that jumps out at us from the daily gospel and allows us to anchor our
day in that word phrasal idea and by extension to anchor our day in the gospel itself.
Today's reading is from John 21:20-25. And keep in mind, this is the very end of John's
gospel. Peter turned and he saw following them the disciple who Jesus loved, who had
laid close to his breast at the Last Supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going
to betray you?" And when Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?"
And Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to
you? Follow me." The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not
to die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die. But if it is my will that
he remain until I come, what is that to you? This is the disciple who is bearing witness
to these things and who has written these things. And we know that his testimony is
true.
But there are also many other things which Jesus did. Were
every one of them to be written? I suppose that the world itself could not contain the
books that would be written. What jumps out at you today? What jumps out at me is that
even before the gospel finished being written, the room was already circulating. The
speculation was already speculating. And a lot of fascination with, "Okay, when is Jesus
coming again?" And this rumor is that John would live until the Second Coming. But of
course, as he points out, that wasn't what Jesus said. What rumors are circulating in
your life right now? What rumors are you tempted to circulate in your life right now?
Gossip and rumors are one of the most insidious parts of our culture and fueled by
social media, literally destroying people's lives. And so we need to be extra careful,
extra cautious not to participate in those rumors, not to fuel those rumors, not to
participate in that gossip, not to start that gossip, because once it begins, it tends
to run amok. It tends to never stop running. Have an amazing day. Remember, do not just
be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.
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