Place de la Paix: Feast Of Saint John, Apostle And Evangelist

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist "was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother was James, who was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder and the Beloved Disciple, and testify that he outlived the remaining apostles and that he was the only one to die of natural causes." [1]

Quoted below is from My Catholic Life! [2]:

Saint Jerome, while living in Palestine in the late 300s, relates a touching anecdote still being told at that time about John the Evangelist. When John was old and feeble, Jerome recounts, and no longer able to walk or preach, he would be carried among the faithful in church and would repeat only one thing over and over again: “My little children, love one another.” Saint Polycarp, through Saint Irenaeus, tells us that Saint John’s long life ended peacefully in Ephesus about 100 A.D. John was the only Apostle not to die a martyr.

Quoted from Wikipedia without references [3]:

The Basilica of St. John was a basilica in Ephesus. It was constructed by Justinian I in the 6th century. It stands over the believed burial site of John the Apostle. It was modeled after the now lost Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

The basilica is on the slopes of Ayasuluk Hill just below the fortress near the center of Selçuk, İzmir Province, Turkey and about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from Ephesus.

Ruins of the Basilica of St. John in Turkey

...

During his time and until his death in Ephesus, St John preached about Christianity. According to legend, before he died, Christ, along with all the other apostles, visited St John and said to him:

Come, my beloved one, and join me and all other brethren of thine at my table; the time has finally come to do so,...the Sunday next, thou wilt come to stay henceforth with me.

As the story unfolds, the following Sunday, St. John continued with his preaching of Christianity before finally informing his disciples of his time. Then he entered the cave of his church whereupon an intense light shone, preventing his disciples from entering farther. When the light dissipated, so did St. John. His legend was furthered when the opening of his tomb during Constantine’s reign yielded no body or relics. Another fact that continues to advance the legend of St. John's assumption into Heaven is the fact that while all the other Saints' body or relic has been claimed by at least one or more city/church, St. John (along with Mary, the Mother of Jesus) is the only Saint whose body is not claimed by anyone or anywhere.

It was also said that St. John was not dead in, but sleeping beneath his tomb. And each time he breathed, he would cause the dust around his altar to stir, which in turn, made them holy. Because of this, the dust, called manna, was said to be able to cure the sick.

First reading quoted from United States Conference of Bishops - 1 Jn 1:1-4, posted on December 26, 2019 [4]:

Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

Faith in God the Father and in His Son Jesus Christ must remain strong despite a very difficult 2020 pandemic year with many lives lost around the world. A new year with new challenges will begin in few days. In the words of Christ from John 14:27 [5]: