Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
The Lord confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the Lord delivers him.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”
Fr. Melcior QUEROL i Solà (Ribes de Freser, Girona, Spain)Today, the Gospel invites us to cease being so “worldly”, to stop being men who can only speak about mundane things, to speak and behave instead as “The one who comes from above”(Jn 3:31), who is Jesus. In this text we see —once more— that in evangelic radicalism there is no happy medium. We must always strive to follow God's thinking, endeavor to share Christ's feelings and aim at seeing men and their circumstances with the same spirit of the Word made flesh. If we behave as “He who comes from above” we shall discover the multitude of positive things happening all the time around us, for God's love is a continued action in favor of man. If we come from above we shall love everybody without exception, and our life will be an open invitation for others to do the same.
“The one who comes from above” (Jn 3:31). This is why He can be so helpful to every man and woman where they need help; furthermore “the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what He has seen and heard” (Jn 3:32). And His service costs nothing. This attitude of service without expecting anything in return, without needing a reply from others, creates a profoundly human and respectful ambiance towards each person's free will; this is a contagious attitude that freely impels others to respond and behave in very much the same way.
Service and testimony always go together, they identify one another. Our world needs authenticity: and what can be more authentic than God's words? What is there more authentic than He who “does not ration his gift of the Spirit” (Jn 3:34)? This is why “Whoever does accept His testimony certifies that God is trustworthy” (Jn 3:33).
“Believing in the Son” means to have eternal life; it also means that Judgement Day is not hanging over believers because they have already been judged and received a favorable sentence; on the other hand, “whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him” (Jn 3:36)... until he believes.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and satisfying than God’s majesty? The radiance of the divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe.” (Saint Basil the Great)
“Obedience, often leads us down a path which isn’t the one we think it should be: there is another, the obedience of Jesus who says to the Father in the Mount of Olives: ‘Thy will be done’.” (Francis)
“Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. Since ‘without faith it is impossible to please (God)’ (Heb 11:6) and to attain to the fellowship of his sons (…).” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nº 161)
