Gospel Reflection June 7 – Deacon Paul
Sunday, June 7
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
John 3: 16 – 18
Gospel:
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.
Gospel Reflection:
In today’s Gospel, we heard perhaps the most widely recognized verse in the New Testament. John 3:16! Go to most sporting events these days, or at least prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and you will see someone displaying a sign that reads John 3:16 on it.
For the Gospel writer, John, this famous verse has two meanings. It refers first to the giving of the Son by the Father through the incarnation, but it also refers to the giving of the Son to die, to rise, and ascend in glory. God’s love for the human race, for you and me, is most fully expressed in God’s act of sending His Son. We can be assured of God’s love for us because of Christ’s presence among us.
Friends, God’s saving love is available for everyone. No one is given a greater share of God’s love than someone else. It is freely offered to all of us. However, a response is required from us. His love must be either accepted or rejected. John tells us that the rejection of God’s love is the same as preferring darkness over the light. What could be more horrible than to accept the darkness when one knows what it means to live in the light? And so, when you recite the prayer of Spiritual Communion this weekend at the virtual Mass, please remember John 3:16: “For God gave us his only Son so we might have eternal life.”
-Deacon Paul Zemanek