Sacred Scripture
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. (John 3:16-21)
Reflection
Is there a passage from the Gospels more well-known or more loved than this one, John 3:16?
Reading it and opening our lives to embrace those words should be the expectation of each of us.
Those who live in the peace of God believe in Jesus, believe in what he says, and choose to align their life to the truth. The apostle John says, “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” The aim of the Christian life, the aim of faith, is to live in communion with Christ who is the truth, to believe in him is to believe in what he says and try with all our might to put what he says into practice.
That’s the key to the authenticity of a Christian life. Each time we step out as a follower of Christ, we are not alone. We are acting on behalf of God and with God so that His love shines through our deeds. We are, indeed, in communion with him.
Today’s world is fractured by darkness and light. At times, it seems as if we cannot do enough to dispel the darkness. For every act of Christian love, there seems to be ten times that with acts and words that contradict his message of love and forgiveness.
It is no different now than it was then. Those who hung Christ on the cross hated the light of Christ’s resurrection radiating through his disciples and they wanted to turn off that light. They who had condemned Jesus to death were condemning themselves for not believing in him. They who pronounced verdicts supposedly on behalf of God were in fact pronouncing a verdict against themselves.
When we step out in the love of Christ, there will be those that will seek to minimize our actions and words. But can they? Do they? Do the answers to the preceding sentences really matter? Not really.
The aim of the Christian life, the aim of faith, is to live in communion with Christ who is the truth, to believe in him is to believe in what he says and try with all our might to put what he says into practice.
And when we live the truth, we want to live in the light not so that we can show off — Jesus warns us against that every Ash Wednesday when he tells us to pray, fast and give alms in secret — but so that the Father may be glorified, so that our deeds may be seen as done in God, so that God may get the credit, so that our life may give him witness and glory. God so loved us as to make that possible.
Prayer of The Day
I praise you, Father all-powerful, Christ, Lord and Savior, Holy Spirit of love. You have revealed yourself to me, and you have drawn me to share in your life and your love. Stay near to me, God. You have created me in your image and you have given life to this world because of your love. In your goodness make me an instrument of your mercy.
Daily Note
The words of today’s gospel are so beautiful and give us so much hope. We must remember that even though we can adjust and live of this world, it is not what we were meant for. We were meant to be of the light of Christ and only live in this world. God created us for more, He created us to live in the light. Today, let us reflect on the words from John’s gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
