Daily Meditation: "God so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost"
Gospel text (Jn 3,16-21):
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Yes, God so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God. This is how the Judgment is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light and doesn't come to the light for fear that his deeds will be shown as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God".
Meditation
"God so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost"
Today the Gospel proposes to us once more to follow in the footsteps of Thomas the Apostle, that go from doubt to faith. Like Thomas, we approach the Lord full of doubts, but He also comes to meet us: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).
Thomas was not present in the first apparition of Jesus to the apostles, that Easter morning. "A week later" (Jn 20:26), in spite of his refusal to believe, Thomas joins the other disciples. The hint is quite clear: faith is not maintained far from the community. Far from our brothers, our faith does not grow nor ripen. At each Sunday's Eucharist we recognize his Presence. If Thomas was honest enough to show his doubts it was because the Lord did not initially grant him what He did to Mary of Magdala: not only to listen and to see the Lord, but to touch him with her own hands. Christ comes to meet us, mostly when we are together with our brothers and are celebrating with them the partition of the Bread, that is, the Eucharist. It is then when He invites us to “put our fingers in His side”, that is, to penetrate the impenetrable mystery of His life.
The move from incredulity to Faith has its stages. Our conversion to Jesus Christ —our step from darkness into light— is a personal process, but we need the community. These past Easter days, we all have felt the urge to follow Jesus on his way of the Cross. Now, fully in Easter time, the Church invites us to enter the new life with Him, with our works being done in God (cf. Jn 3:21).
Today, we also have to personally feel Jesus' invitation to Thomas: "and be not faithless, but believing" (Jn 20:27). Our life is at stake, as "he that believed on him is not condemned" (Jn 3:18), but goes to the light.
Fr. Manel VALLS i Serra
(Barcelona, Spain)
Source: evangeli.net
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Audio: Wednesday 2nd of Easter
