God so loved the World…
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There is one major theme running through today’s three readings: God’s incredible love for His people.
In the Gospel, Jesus offers what is probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible—John 3:16 “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.”Of all the verses in the Gospels, it really lives up to the meaning of the word “Gospel” as “Good News.” And verse 17 reads: "For God did not send His Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior."
These two verses, John 3:15 and 17 have been called a summary of the Bible.
Some years ago when the space engineers in the U.S. were designing space suits for the command module pilot and the lunar module pilot, a part of the design of each space suit was an umbilical cord, consisting of a long flexible tubing. The purpose of the umbilical cord was to supply oxygen to the astronauts (Space travelers) when they "walk" in space or pass from one module to another.
This suit receptacle into which the command pilot's cord fit was called J3: 16. The suit receptacle into which the lunar pilot's cord fit was called J 3:17. According to the designer, just as J3: 16 and J3: 17 supply the astronauts with what they need to survive in their journey from one module to another, so John 3:16 and John 3:17 supply us with what we need to survive in our journey from earth to heaven. “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.”
The most astounding feature of the gospel is this: in the face of the world's bombast and its ingratitude, God's response is not to expel it but rather to love it, to love it so utterly as to give himself for it.
When the apostle John writes, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…" we must never think that God is giving his Son in place of giving himself; we must never think that God is giving his Son as a substitute for giving himself. Quite the contrary: just because the Father and the Son are one in nature, substance, being, the Father's giving his only Son is simply the Father's giving himself; always himself, never less than himself.
First letter of Saint John chapter 4:16 says, "God is love". And in this infinite and merciful Love, the Father sent his own Son to save all the men and women who have ever lived on earth, from the creation of the world until the end of time.
But, most of the time we may not realize how much God loves us. Eagles are the most long-lived bird in the world. The eagle is used as a model in the Bible to teach God’s loving care for man. The eagle-couple work together and build a nest at a high altitude, inaccessible to other birds. The eggs are laid on soft and warm bedding. She pulls out soft fur from her own breast to adorn the bed. The baby eaglets enjoy the fine rest in the nice nest. The baby eagles, the eaglets, are so happy and experience the love of their parents until when the eaglets reach a suitable age, the mother, with her wings as a broom sweeps out the soft things from the nest to prepare it hard. The eaglets start hating and cursing the mother for spoiling the comfort.
Later the eaglet is carried out of the nest, resting on her wide wings, into the open air. As they circled higher and higher into flight, little baby was impressed with how strong his mother’s wings were. He held tight to his mother’s back. The higher they got, the tighter he held on. Then suddenly without any notice, Mother Eagle folded her wing and rolled over until they were flying up-side-down. Eaglet lost his grip and was falling thousands of feet toward the ground. He was scared. He kicked his feet, flapped his wings, and yapped his jaw, but nothing he tried would work. He could not fly. The eaglet tries its best to fly and stay in the air. Each foot he falls, he cursed his parents for not loving him. He though his parents do not love him and they are abandoning him. He was thinking why they create him. Why they gave him comfort and now let him die in the air?
Just before he hit the ground, Mother Eagle swooped down and caught him and carried him to safety. Gradually the training succeeds and the eaglets learn to fly and live independently. Deuteronomy 32:11 says: “Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling.”
God, like the eagle, may stir our nest and remove the comforts. He may drop us so that we may learn to survive. We need not fear as He is always near, ready to support us in every fall. Every time when we feel that God is not caring us and not near us, he may be teaching us how to fly and live independently. God’s love is eternal and it will have no end. {Hebrews 12:6-11}, {Proverbs 3:11,12}, {Job 5:17,18}.
The incredible thing, of course, is that God continues to offer us His love no matter how many times we reject Him. His forgiveness is unconditional and is offered over and over and over. His love for us knows no limits.
St. John reminds us most emphatically of something we always tend to forget: that God is not a judge! On the contrary, God is a Savior. He is essentially a savior, and nothing else. Consequently, when he sends His Son into the world, it is for one purpose, to save us.
Our mission is to be that living sign of John 3:16 so that everyone can see through our lives that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might have life.
All we have to do to receive this love of God is just that accept it, embrace it, and believe it. Let me repeat the prayer of St Patrick. “ Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”
In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There is one major theme running through today’s three readings: God’s incredible love for His people.
In the Gospel, Jesus offers what is probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible—John 3:16 “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.”Of all the verses in the Gospels, it really lives up to the meaning of the word “Gospel” as “Good News.” And verse 17 reads: "For God did not send His Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior."
These two verses, John 3:15 and 17 have been called a summary of the Bible.
Some years ago when the space engineers in the U.S. were designing space suits for the command module pilot and the lunar module pilot, a part of the design of each space suit was an umbilical cord, consisting of a long flexible tubing. The purpose of the umbilical cord was to supply oxygen to the astronauts (Space travelers) when they "walk" in space or pass from one module to another.
This suit receptacle into which the command pilot's cord fit was called J3: 16. The suit receptacle into which the lunar pilot's cord fit was called J 3:17. According to the designer, just as J3: 16 and J3: 17 supply the astronauts with what they need to survive in their journey from one module to another, so John 3:16 and John 3:17 supply us with what we need to survive in our journey from earth to heaven. “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.”
The most astounding feature of the gospel is this: in the face of the world's bombast and its ingratitude, God's response is not to expel it but rather to love it, to love it so utterly as to give himself for it.
When the apostle John writes, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…" we must never think that God is giving his Son in place of giving himself; we must never think that God is giving his Son as a substitute for giving himself. Quite the contrary: just because the Father and the Son are one in nature, substance, being, the Father's giving his only Son is simply the Father's giving himself; always himself, never less than himself.
First letter of Saint John chapter 4:16 says, "God is love". And in this infinite and merciful Love, the Father sent his own Son to save all the men and women who have ever lived on earth, from the creation of the world until the end of time.
But, most of the time we may not realize how much God loves us. Eagles are the most long-lived bird in the world. The eagle is used as a model in the Bible to teach God’s loving care for man. The eagle-couple work together and build a nest at a high altitude, inaccessible to other birds. The eggs are laid on soft and warm bedding. She pulls out soft fur from her own breast to adorn the bed. The baby eaglets enjoy the fine rest in the nice nest. The baby eagles, the eaglets, are so happy and experience the love of their parents until when the eaglets reach a suitable age, the mother, with her wings as a broom sweeps out the soft things from the nest to prepare it hard. The eaglets start hating and cursing the mother for spoiling the comfort.
Later the eaglet is carried out of the nest, resting on her wide wings, into the open air. As they circled higher and higher into flight, little baby was impressed with how strong his mother’s wings were. He held tight to his mother’s back. The higher they got, the tighter he held on. Then suddenly without any notice, Mother Eagle folded her wing and rolled over until they were flying up-side-down. Eaglet lost his grip and was falling thousands of feet toward the ground. He was scared. He kicked his feet, flapped his wings, and yapped his jaw, but nothing he tried would work. He could not fly. The eaglet tries its best to fly and stay in the air. Each foot he falls, he cursed his parents for not loving him. He though his parents do not love him and they are abandoning him. He was thinking why they create him. Why they gave him comfort and now let him die in the air?
Just before he hit the ground, Mother Eagle swooped down and caught him and carried him to safety. Gradually the training succeeds and the eaglets learn to fly and live independently. Deuteronomy 32:11 says: “Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling.”
God, like the eagle, may stir our nest and remove the comforts. He may drop us so that we may learn to survive. We need not fear as He is always near, ready to support us in every fall. Every time when we feel that God is not caring us and not near us, he may be teaching us how to fly and live independently. God’s love is eternal and it will have no end. {Hebrews 12:6-11}, {Proverbs 3:11,12}, {Job 5:17,18}.
The incredible thing, of course, is that God continues to offer us His love no matter how many times we reject Him. His forgiveness is unconditional and is offered over and over and over. His love for us knows no limits.
St. John reminds us most emphatically of something we always tend to forget: that God is not a judge! On the contrary, God is a Savior. He is essentially a savior, and nothing else. Consequently, when he sends His Son into the world, it is for one purpose, to save us.
Our mission is to be that living sign of John 3:16 so that everyone can see through our lives that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might have life.
All we have to do to receive this love of God is just that accept it, embrace it, and believe it. Let me repeat the prayer of St Patrick. “ Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”
In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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