St. John the Evangelist in Horsham

Known as the "beloved Apostle," Saint John, along with his brother Saint James where
personally called by Jesus to become fishers of men. This had been his avocation
before Our Lord touched his life on the shores of Galilee where he had been born, the
son of Zebedee and Salome as chapter 4 of Matthew and 1 of Mark relate. John was the
youngest of all the Apostles and 'dubbed "Sons of Thunder" by Our Lord mainly
because of their volatile temperaments which, in John's case, was greatly calmed once
he began to follow the Messiah.It is no secret, as Sacred Scripture attests to, that John
was a personal favourite of Jesus. The Apostle was handpicked by Our Lord to
accompany Him to the place of the Transfiguration, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law,
the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead, and the agony in the garden.

John rewarded his Master by being the only Apostle to follow Jesus to the foot of the
Cross. He in turn was rewarded by Our Lord when He entrusted His most prized
possession into the beloved Apostle's care - His very Own Blessed Mother Mary as the
Apostle relates in his own gospel account, chapter 19:25-27. John was the first to reach
the empty tomb on Easter morning. After Pentecost, John accompanied Peter to
Samaria to spread the Word to the people there and was present at the Council of
Jerusalem in 49 A.D. After that he travelled to Asia Minor. Some believe Our Lady
accompanied him there and lived in Ephesus, where she died and was assumed
bodily into Heaven. Saint Paul affirms in Galatians 2:9 that John, along with Peter and
James, were "these pillars" of the Church.

Church historian Tertullian holds that John travelled to Rome where he miraculously
evaded martyrdom under the vile Roman emperor Domitian, emerging fresh and cool
after being submerged in a boiling cauldron of oil.....more.