"For God so loved the world..."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 3:13-17.
No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
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.


Commentary of the day
Pope Benedict XVI
Homily the Paschal Vigil, 07/04/2007 (©Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

"He gave himself up to death and by his resurrection he destroyed death and restored life" (Eucharistic Prayer IV)

In the Creed we say about Christ's journey that he «descended into hell»... The liturgy applies to Jesus' descent into the night of death the words of Psalm 23[24]: «Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted up, O ancient doors!» The gates of death are closed, no one can return from there. There is no key for those iron doors. But Christ has the key. His Cross opens wide the gates of death, the stern doors. They are barred no longer. His Cross, his radical love, is the key that opens them. The love of the One who, though God, became man in order to die – this love has the power to open those doors. This love is stronger than death.

The Easter icons of the Oriental Church show how Christ enters the world of the dead. He is clothed with light, for God is light. «The night is bright as the day, the darkness is as light» (cf. Ps 138[139]12). Entering the world of the dead, Jesus bears the stigmata, the signs of his passion: his wounds, his suffering, have become power: they are love that conquers death. He meets Adam and all the men and women waiting in the night of death. As we look at them, we can hear an echo of the prayer of Jonah: «Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice» (Jon 2:2).

In the incarnation, the Son of God became one with human beings – with Adam. But only at this moment, when he accomplishes the supreme act of love by descending into the night of death, does he bring the journey of the incarnation to its completion. By his death he now clasps the hand of Adam, of every man and woman who awaits him, and brings them to the light.

My Reflection:
God really really loves mankind. But am I responding to His promise? How can I contribute to the society especially now that we are in the modern age of technology wherein people are so much focused on earthly things. I know that God has a special plans in my life. All I have to do is to die in myself so that others may live. Doing this blog makes me an instrument to propagate His Good news of salvation.

Will you follow Him also?
Pray for it...