Thursday 4 December 2025
St John Damascene
Isaiah 26:1-6. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord – Ps 117(118):1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27. Matthew 7:21, 24-27.
Strong foundations
You don’t hear much about St John Damascene, who lived in the seventh century. He is a fascinating character who lived for many years in a monastery near Jerusalem and was the first Christian scholar to think seriously about Islam. He knew Arabic and read the Qur’an. Today’s reading about a ‘strong city’ and Gospel about building on rock are both strangely apt. He believed our faith should have such solid foundations that we can examine other traditions. Only faith built on sand needs to be frightened.
More importantly, St John was a great defender of icons and religious pictures. This was distinct from the Islamic approach. Christians have always been helped by visual imagery. Ours is a faith that appeals to all our senses. The death of Jesus has been pictured in thousands of ways, and those portraits always come from a cultural perspective. We don’t have photos of that dreadful day on Calvary. But our imagination can help us draw close.
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