Never in contradiction

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”  This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21: 20-25)

In the epilogue of his Gospel, the nearly 100 year-old St. John states that not all of Jesus’s accomplishments were written down. However, everything necessary for the salvation of ours souls was, indeed, recorded in his Gospel. Furthermore, in addition to the Word of God, we have been given the Sacred Tradition, which interprets the Word of God correctly and without ever contradicting it. May we always follow the Church’s shepherds who faithfully teach us this Sacred Tradition.