Now That's Love!

4th Sunday of Lent Mar. 18, 2012 (Jn 3:14-21)

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

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. 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 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.

In our Gospel for today, we are reminded of the reason Jesus came into the world - because of love. God loves us and wants us to be saved; hence, Jesus became man. The well known Gospel passage says it perfectly: "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 (Jn 3:16)."

The First Reading (2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23) tells us that even though the leaders, the priests and the people of Judah were committing sins against Him, God still showed them great love and mercy by sending them prophets to lead them back to Him. But they did not listen to the prophets, so they were exiled to Babylon. But even there, God's love and mercy was upon them. After years of captivity, the Lord saved them and brought them back through Cyrus.

Our Gospel today shows us how God went so much further in showing us His love. If in the Old Testament, He sent prophets and made King Cyrus an instrument to liberate His people, in the New Testament, God sends us His Beloved Son Jesus. In fact, it was God Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity, who came to the world as man - all for our salvation. That is how much God loves us. As the Second Reading (Eph 2:4-10) emphasizes, even when we were in sin, He showed His great love in giving us Jesus for our salvation. It's already generous of God to give His Son, but to give Jesus to us undeserving sinners? That is God's love.

This mercy and love of God, although great and unfathomable, are not forced upon us. As the Gospel said, God's loving salvation requires our response. To be saved, we must believe in Jesus and in His salvation. Believing in Jesus consists of knowing, loving and serving Him, not simply confessing that we believe in Him but living a life contrary to what He preached. Believing in Jesus means coming to Him with deeds of light, putting off the evil deeds we used to hide in the dark.

As people who believe in God and in the redemption Jesus brought about, we are also called to imitate God's great love to the best of our abilities. The Lenten invitation to give alms is an echo of the challenge for us to live in love. We may not be able to die for the sake of others, but Jesus invites us to live for them. In a way, that is already life-giving. As St. Paul would put it, we must let Christ live in us. (Gal 2:20)

As we continue in our Lenten journey towards Easter joy, we rejoice as we are given a great hope. We are not left alone in our journey to come back to God. Knowing that we cannot save our own selves, God gave us His Son. And this is the Good News we rejoice for. We need only to do our part - to believe in Him, to love Him and to serve Him in loving others.

Sharing God's Gift of Himself

4th Sunday of Advent Dec. 20, 2009 (Lk 1:39-45)

During those days, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

I have often wondered why the Angel Gabriel punished Zechariah for disbelief when Zechariah only asked him the same question Mary asked in the Annunciation, "How could this be?". Why was Mary not punished for disbelief? Probably, Zechariah's question had a hint of doubt while Mary was merely wondering about the message of the angel. After all, only God can discern the hearts of men.

"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled," says Elizabeth in our Gospel today. Mary believed the message from God, even if it seemed impossible. Even if she would be in danger, as becoming pregnant before marriage would mean death through stoning, she trusted in God, knowing that God takes good care of His obedient children. Indeed, Mary was blessed because she believed. Yes, blessed are those who believe in God's promises. And blessed are we for we believe that Jesus will come.

Like Mary and Elizabeth, our faith enables us to realize that God's plan is unfolding. Our faith assures us that God came into this world as man to save us. This faith further tells us that this God who dwelt among us is, indeed, still with us, as He promised us, "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20). Like Mary, our faith should give us the courage even when many dangers beset us; we should be courageous because God is with us.

Christmas is, of course, not only about faith. Christmas challenges us to make our faith incarnate, to make it concrete, visible through our actions. Like Mary, who believed the news of the angel and who immediately went to her cousin Elizabeth to share the news to her and to assist her in her pregnancy, we too are challenged to share the news that God is among His people, that God is working in our lives, that God was born on earth and is still here with us. For all we know, the people around us might not have had Jesus born in their hearts yet. God's gift to all of us is His own self. And, as people who have received God's gift of Himself, we ought to share Him to all who haven't received Him yet.

This Christmas, there is a greater need of taking on the challenge of sharing God's gift of Himself. As many were left without possession, without home and without family after the onslaught of typhoons in our country and after the horrors left by a massacre, many might not be able to hold on to their faith. Many might not be able to feel God's presence, much less realize that Jesus will be born in their hearts. We must make then remember that, in the first Christmas, Mary and Joseph also had nowhere to stay, nobody but each other and God to help them in their situation. Nevertheless, they had faith in God. And the joy they felt that night was not because of the luxuries of home and of the company of friends; their joy was from the child who lay in the manger, the little baby who is the incarnation of God's immense love for men. This Divine infant is the cause of our joy for this season. This is the good news we need to proclaim: God is still with us. We need only to have faith and to share the faith.

Despite the many reasons for us to grieve, the immensity of God's love made flesh gives us joy. God's love is enough to dispel all fear and all loneliness. We need only to believe, like Mary who believed. And as we rejoice because of what God has done for us, we must pass the joy because God's gift of Himself is for all of us.

The Greatest Evidence of God's Love

4th Sunday of Lent Mar. 22, 2009 (Jn 3:14-21)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

"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. 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 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."

God is love and He loves us all. This is something very elementary for us Catholics. We all know this. In fact, John 3:16, a verse which speaks about God's love, is a very popular Bible verse. But sometimes, being too familiar with this fact, with this verse, we forget what it means. We are no longer in awe when we here about God's great love.

The Gospel for today speaks about how God loved the world so much. This He showed by giving to us His only Son to die for our salvation. Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love for us. This is how great God loves us: He allowed His Son to be subject to suffering and death in order to save us. All this He did even when we were still sinners. Imagine trying to risk your only son's life just to save criminals? But that is how God loved us.

Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love. In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus foretold His redemptive act of love in a metaphorical way. He spoke about how he must be raised up like the bronze serpent Moses raised up in the desert to save the Israelites who were bitten by snakes. Just as the Israelites were saved from death when they looked at the bronze serpent, so all of us will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

All the teachings of Christianity may be summed up in this one word: LOVE. The Gospel we proclaim is the Gospel of Love. God loved us first, and, in response, we must love God back and also love our neighbors.

God's love is so overwhelming that we ought to share it with other people. Therefore, God's love also gives us a mission - to make other people feel that God loves them too, just in case they might not feel it.

This Lent, we are invited to reflect on the magnitude of God's love. We ought to feel this love in remembering Jesus' redemptive act. We are also challenged to live according to the demands of God's love, in obedience to the commandment of love. We ought to love God and our neighbors, especially those in great need. We should not only speak about the Gospel of love. We must show it by loving other people. As a song goes, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love!"

I remember when I was in Grade School. I drew a picture of Jesus carrying the cross. Then I erased the cross and replaced it with many hearts, forming the shape of the cross. The picture below shows how the cross looked like. (Although I didn't draw Jesus carrying it anymore.) When I drew that picture years ago, I had this thought in mind: "Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love!"

Amplifying the Message of Love with a Touch

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 8, 2009 (Mk 1:29-39)

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Jesus' public ministry was not only pure preaching about God and His Kingdom. It was characterized by so many great miracles that people couldn't help but seek for Him always. Jesus' fame was indeed spreading. We read in our Gospel today that after Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, the whole town was gathered before the door where He was. He healed many people there and drove out many demons. This cannot happen, of course, without the faith of the people. The people of the town probably had great faith, a prerequisite for any miracle.

Jesus' healing miracles are not for fame. If Jesus wanted to be famous, he would have let the demons speak about who He was before He drove them away. But as was said in the Gospel, He did not permit them to speak because they knew Him. Jesus' healing has a great purpose. It is part of His mission. It accompanied the Word of God which He preached. His healing touch amplifies the message of God's love. Through healing, He made it easier for people to understand that God loves them and cares for them. This is why Jesus went to many synagogues; He wanted to proclaim God's message through healing.

Jesus wants us to know that God loves us very much. So much so that, to save us from our world of sin and suffering, God Himself, in the person of Jesus, shared our humanity and was subjected to suffering. Jesus is not alien to the sufferings we encounter. It is written, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Heb 4:15)." Jesus showed us the value of human weakness and suffering. He showed us that our sufferings can be an offering to God.

In the midst of all the illnesses and sufferings we encounter, let us always remember God who is loving and caring. Many people lose hope and even faith in God just because they experience suffering. The popular question these days goes like this, "If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world?" Let us remember that all the sufferings and pain we experience today are caused by sin, not by God. God created everything good. We know this very well. It was sin that brought all the miseries and sufferings in this world. The first sin of our parents caused all the evils we face.

Let us remain faithful to our God of Love. Like Job, let us endure sufferings, offer them to God and pray that they be gone instead of cursing God for them. Let us also be sensitive to the sufferings of others. God loves all of us and He will heal all of us physically and spiritually in His time! Let us remind everyone of this Good News. Let us draw the sick towards God and show them that God cares through the Sacraments for the Sick. Let us bring back the sinners to the confessional and let God embrace them. Through our simple touch of love, we amplify the message of Jesus: God loves and cares!