Vision

The Saint John Society (SSJ) is an organization in the Catholic Church – a Society of Apostolic Life according to Canon Law – that has the New Evangelization as its goal.  The SSJ is comprised of priests and men in formation for the priesthood.  They live in common in houses in which fellowship, prayer, apostolate and formation are closely connected.
We believe that in Christ a new situation is given to us, as Saint Paul says: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17).  This is the message that the SSJ proposes to embody and proclaim.  The encounter with Jesus deeply transforms all the dimensions in people’s lives, as is seen in the passage of Zachaeus (Lk 19: 1-10): mind and heart, prayer, family and friends, study and work, leisure, personal projects…  Everything changes for someone who lives in Christ.  Those who encounter Jesus enter into a more profound relationship with God, establish deep and lasting relationships with others, and see themselves as new creatures.  They can unfold their potential and discover how their talents fit in with a specific mission in the world.
Our Society bears the name of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, the “beloved disciple,” the friend of Jesus.  John was the youngest of all the aposotles, and he shared with Jesus moments of friendship and mystery, being the privileged confidante of the mysteries of the heart of Christ.  In the Last Supper, John sat with Jesus and reclined on Jesus’ chest.  And John was the only apostle that was at the foot of the Cross; there our Lord entrusted His Mother to John and he received her into his home.  John left us the Gospel of the signs, and was the visionary of Patmos, to whom the Lord revealed the vicisitudes of His Church.  And he is the one with the eye of an eagle, who transmitted to us the message of the New Life in Christ Jesus.