The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to ponder the tension between the Gift of Love of the Father to the world and the persecution suffered by disciples of the Son of God in the world.
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| So Loved the World |
The reading from the Book of Acts describes how the Apostles, Peter and John, are persecuted by the Sanhedrin.
* [5:17–42] A second action against the community is taken by the Sanhedrin in the arrest and trial of the Twelve; cf. Acts 4:1–3. The motive is the jealousy of the religious authorities over the popularity of the apostles (Acts 5:17) who are now charged with the defiance of the Sanhedrin’s previous order to them to abandon their prophetic role (Acts 5:28; cf. Acts 4:18). In this crisis the apostles are favored by a miraculous release from prison (Acts 5:18–24). (For similar incidents involving Peter and Paul, see Acts 12:6–11; 16:25–29.) The real significance of such an event, however, would be manifest only to people of faith, not to unbelievers; since the Sanhedrin already judged the Twelve to be inauthentic prophets, it could disregard reports of their miracles. When the Twelve immediately resumed public teaching, the Sanhedrin determined to invoke upon them the penalty of death (Acts 5:33) prescribed in Dt 13:6–10. Gamaliel’s advice against this course finally prevailed, but it did not save the Twelve from the punishment of scourging (Acts 5:40) in a last endeavor to shake their conviction of their prophetic mission.1
Psalm 34 offers praise for deliverance from trouble.
* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22).2
In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains the Love of God to Nicodemus in a world of dark and light.
* [3:16] Gave: as a gift in the incarnation, and also “over to death” in the crucifixion; cf. Rom 8:32.
* [3:17–19] Condemn: the Greek root means both judgment and condemnation. Jesus’ purpose is to save, but his coming provokes judgment; some condemn themselves by turning from the light.
* [3:19] Judgment is not only future but is partially realized here and now.3
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that transparency is the reality of living in the light. Living so that reality shines through your actions, speaking so that truth is heard and able to be believed in the words spoken – but transparency is relational – it lies in that which is seen or heard and the eyes and ears of the hearer/beholder.
The Gospel hammers this Easter theme home by giving us the heart of the Gospel message in one sentence – the famous John 3.16, beloved of athletes and athletic contests – “God so loved the world . . .” and then hitting us over the head with the message that we have to live in the light – not hide in the darkness. We are to be transparent, be seen for what we are, proclaim what we believe and live the Christ life as Jesus did: what you see is what you get.
Furthermore we are called to look at the world and hear the world with clear eyes and ears, the eyes and ears cleared up by the Grace of Baptism. We no longer live in the dark, underground, in secret – we are to tell the world everything about this Christian life in the public places and private corners of our lives – but telling is only half the reality. We have to practice, transparently, what we preach. We tell by doing.4
Don Schwager quotes “The Intensity of God's Love and Our Response,” by John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D.
"The text, 'God so loved the world,' shows such an intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. The immortal, the infinite majesty without beginning or end loved those who were but dust and ashes, who were loaded with ten thousand sins but remained ungrateful even as they constantly offended him. This is who he 'loved.' For God did not give a servant, or an angel or even an archangel 'but his only begotten Son.' And yet no one would show such anxiety even for his own child as God did for his ungrateful servants..." "He laid down his life for us and poured forth his precious blood for our sake - even though there is nothing good in us - while we do not even pour out our money for our own sake and neglect him who died for us when he is naked and a stranger... We put gold necklaces on ourselves and even on our pets but neglect our Lord who goes about naked and passes from door to door... He gladly goes hungry so that you may be fed; naked so that he may provide you with the materials for a garment of incorruption, yet we will not even give up any of our own food or clothing for him... These things I say continually, and I will not cease to say them, not so much because I care for the poor but because I care for your souls." (HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 27.2–3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 3:16-21 urges us to take some time to pray with the Gospel verse from John 3:16.
God wants to show you how he loves you today. As you take some time to pray with one—or several—of these ideas, let his free, generous, and overflowing love wash over you. Let it sink in how much he loves you! Then, let your heart respond with praise and thanks to the Lord who loved not only the whole world but you!
“Praise to you, Lord, for the way you love each and every person you have made! Help me to receive all the love you have for me.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments that humans cannot oppose the great power of Will of God to share Love. The dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus is dualistic in presenting our choices. Friar Jude reminds us that we choose selfishness and sin over acting in Love.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces spiritual teacher, Mirabai Starr, who has translated many works by both John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila, tells the story of John’s loyalty to their shared mission of reformation. Juan de la Cruz was twenty-nine years old and madly in love with God. The great living saint Teresa of Ávila had recognized a rare sanctity and brilliance in this humble young friar and placed him in charge of her first reform convent [in 1572]. Then late one night [when John was thirty-five], threatened by this movement to return the order to the contemplative path embodied by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the mainstream Carmelites whisked him away and imprisoned him in Toledo.
As the months ground by, [John] began to fear that he had been abandoned by the Holy One. For the first time in his life, he questioned the existence of a God he could no longer feel or remember. And, as his soul dried up, he found he could no longer even conceive of this God to whom he had dedicated everything. When he tried to pray, all he encountered was a cavernous emptiness.
He cried out, “Where have you hidden, my Beloved?”
Echoing from this cry came an outpouring of love poetry to God. He committed each poem to memory and recited them all again and again until they were etched on his heart. His poems became simultaneously a call to and a response from his Beloved. . . .7
Our response to the action of the Father who “so loved the world” may provoke reactions of anger and selfishness from those in the world who choose the dark.
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