” “"Placing faith before any human calculation or interest": it is the exhortation made today by Benedict XVI during the Wednesday catechesis in Saint Peter’s Square in front of 20,000 pilgrims who tried to shelter themselves from the heat under colourful umbrellas. The Pope devoted the meeting to John, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, "the favourite disciple", according to tradition, who has a "prominent position" amidst the disciples. His "openness in confessing to his faith he stated remains an example and a warning for all of us, to be always ready to determinedly affirm our unshakeable adhesion to Christ by placing faith before any human calculation or interest". John is "the favourite disciple" who rests his head on the Master’s chest at the Last Supper, who is at the feet of the Cross along with Jesus’ Mother and is the witness of both the empty Tomb and the presence of the Resurrected. "We know this identification is questioned by the scholars commented the Pope some of whom see in Him just the prototype of the disciple of Jesus. Leaving it to the exegetes to settle the matter, here we’ll just be content with taking up an important lesson for our life: the Lord wishes to turn each of us into a disciple who lives a personal friendship with Him". But to accomplish this, he specified, "following and listening to Him from the outside is not enough; we must also live with Him and like Him. This can only be done in the context of a relation of great familiarity, imbued with the warmth of unconditional trust. This is what being friends means". (to be continued)” “
