TOWSON, Maryland, Sunday, July 16, 2017 - We are not told why Saint John (the Apostle) was "special" to Christ. We are only told that he was. John wrote one of the four Gospels. Three of the four Gospels are said to be Synoptic Gospels. Matthew is a Synoptic Gospel. Mark is a Synoptic Gospel. Luke is a Synoptic Gospel. But John is a Gospel but not a Synoptic Gospel According to Wikipedia, "the term synoptic (Latin: synopticus; Greek: συνοπτικός, translit. synoptikós) comes via Latin from the Greek σύνοψις, synopsis, i.e. "(a) seeing all together, synopsis"; the sense of the word in English, the one specifically applied to these three gospels, of "giving an account of the events from the same point of view or under the same general aspect" is a modern one. But John's Gospel, says Wikipedia and countless of Biblical commentators, offers a "distinct" lesson or pronouncement about the way things are.
The very first paragraph of St. John's Gospel is so utterly profound that it haunts us, not in some horrible way, but in the way that it reaches into our hearts and minds and compels our attention. Verse 1: "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 2: The same was in the beginning with God. Verse 3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Verse 4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men. Verse 5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
And yet we wonder why the Biblical Authors write that St. John the Apostle was special to Christ. As he hung on the cross he looked down and saw his mother near the base of the cross. With her stood St. John. Upon noticing this, Christ told Mary that henceforth she would consider John her son, and he told John that henceforth Mary was his mother. John immediately took Mary into his home.
At the web site known as Bible Hub, this commentary is offered on the subject of why John was "special" to Christ:
"It was for the qualities of the heart, rather than the head, that John was distinguished; and the secret of the Lord's peculiar delight in him is perhaps found in this: "I love them that love Me, and they who seek Me early shall find Me." John was a man of warmer, fervid temperament, as appears from the Lord calling him and his brother Boanages (sons of thunder); and this ardent heart was given wholly and abidingly to Christ. He came young to Christ, as appears from the long period that he outlived his Master. He came also early; for he was one of the two who, in consequence of John Baptist's words, followed Jesus to His dwelling, and became His disciples. His deep, fervent love, unconsciously breaks forth in many ways. His love to Christ, as well as Christ's to him, appears in his place at the table — the nearest to Jesus. His love made him follow his Master to the judgment hall; made him linger at the cross when the others were gone; made him foremost in the race to the tomb, and first to believe the story told by the forsaken but orderly grave clothes. It was his love, quick sighted, that made him the first to recognize his Beloved on the shores of Tiberias, in the grey twilight of the dawning day. It was admiring love that made him close his gospel with the glowing words (John 21:25). It was panting, longing love that made him close his Apocalypse with the fervid prayer (Revelation 22:20). John's very faults show his love to Christ...But further, John had a deeper, truer insight than the others into the Divine glory of Christ's person, and the spiritual nature of His work."
The Bible itself does not answer the question. It probably is not a question that demands an answer. It is, however, a most worthy subject to contemplate.
The Peculiar Nature of Mid-Atlantic Weather
To me, it is absolutely amazing to ride just a few miles up the road and find that the weather has changed so dramatically. The weather folk had spoken of a "cold" front moving just south of Baltimore overnight on Friday, allowing for a change in the awful suffocating heat wave that has gripped the Baltimore vicinity for over one week. But these people were incorrect. The so-called cold front did not pass through my City. I cut the lawn here in Towson later on Saturday afternoon; actually, I should say that I started to cut the lawn. After about 30 minutes my clothes were drenched in sweat. About one hour later my wife, my father and me headed up Interstate 83 to have dinner just over the Maryland line in York County, Pennsylvania. When we got out of the car at the restaurant we were stunned. It was like a new season of the year. Instead of hot and steamy, the air was dryer and cooler. We couldn't believe it. The cold front had passed through this neck of the woods!
Maryland Opens Soccer Schedule With Trip to Santa Clara, Followed by Home Matches Against Hofstra, UCLA, Cal Poly, Indiana and Rutgers
It is only mid-July, but the 2017 NCAA Soccer Campaign is right around the corner. There is no announced Pre-Season games this fall, so when the Terps take the pitch, it will be for a "real" game. Terp Coach Sasho Cirovski - beginning his 25th Season in College Park - has again put together a back-breaking slate of games for his young Terps. The first match is on August 25 at Santa Clara, California against Santa Clara College. The Broncs have come to College Park in the past, but this will be Maryland's first trip to their pitch. Kick off will be at 7 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Three nights
later Maryland will open its home schedule with a match against always tough and tenacious Hofstra. four nights after that, on Friday, September 1, the Terps host UCLA. On September 4 the Terps will host Cal Poly.
The Big Ten Season begins early this year and Maryland will have to be ready. On Friday, September 8 the Indiana Hoosiers come to call at College Park, and on September 12 it will be Rutgers coming to Ludwig Field.
The way that Maryland ended the 2016 season will be on every Terrapins' mind, including their coach. The loss in the second round pf the NCAA Tournament to Providence was a sports horror story. Maryland was up by four goals with less than 15 minutes left when they literally collapsed and lost in regulation. After the game, Cirovski was literally at a loss for words, telling a student reporter that he was unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed. He wasn't the only one. In a school press release with the new schedule, Cirovski said, “With the way our season ended last year, we can't wait to get started with 2017 campaign.”
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