The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer the opportunity to reflect on the goodness and beauty that God brings to our life as we are invited to freely choose a deeper relationship with the Trinity.
The reading from the Second Book of Chronicles describes the situation after the fall of Jerusalem when Cyrus proclaims liberty for the Exiles in Babylon
* [36:22–23] These verses are identical with those of Ezr 1:1–3a and were to prevent the work from ending on a note of doom. (2 Chronicles, CHAPTER 36 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 137 is a lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 137] A singer refuses to sing the people’s sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors (Ps 137:1–4). The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician—hands and tongue—to exalt Jerusalem always (Ps 137:5–6). The Psalm ends with a prayer that the old enemies of Jerusalem, Edom and Babylon, be destroyed (Ps 137:7–9). (Psalms, PSALM 137 | USCCB, n.d.)
The reading from the Letter to the Ephesians proclaims the Generosity of God’s Plan.
* [2:1–10] The recipients of Paul’s letter have experienced, in their redemption from transgressions and sins, the effect of Christ’s supremacy over the power of the devil (Eph 2:1–2; cf. Eph 6:11–12), who rules not from the netherworld but from the air between God in heaven and human beings on earth. Both Jew and Gentile have experienced, through Christ, God’s free gift of salvation that already marks them for a future heavenly destiny (Eph 2:3–7). The language dead, raised us up, and seated us…in the heavens closely parallels Jesus’ own passion and Easter experience. The terms in Eph 2:8–9 describe salvation in the way Paul elsewhere speaks of justification: by grace, through faith, the gift of God, not from works; cf. Gal 2:16–21; Rom 3:24–28. Christians are a newly created people in Christ, fashioned by God for a life of goodness (Eph 2:10). (Ephesians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of John describes the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus.
* [3:14] Lifted up: in Nm 21:9 Moses simply “mounted” a serpent upon a pole. John here substitutes a verb implying glorification. Jesus, exalted to glory at his cross and resurrection, represents healing for all.
* [3:15] Eternal life: used here for the first time in John, this term stresses quality of life rather than duration.
* [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. (John, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)
Edward Morse (2018) comments that our faith should not stay in our head. It should be reflected in our hearts, arms, legs, fingers, and toes as we do works that proceed from love of God and love of neighbor, which St. Augustine described as medicine that we need from the Church.
Lord, we need your mercy. Grant that we might heed your warnings when we leave the path, and return promptly. Let us remember always the goodness and beauty that we can only find in you, and not in the cheap substitutes that we sometimes choose. Open our hearts and minds to be receptive to your instruction, so that we can live worthily as your people. Kindle true faith that draws us to your Church, where we can find the medicine we need to be well and the home where we truly belong. Thanks be to God. (Morse, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “He descended so that we might ascend,” by Hilary of Poitiers, 315-367 A.D.
"God, who loved the world, gave his only begotten Son as a manifest token of his love. If the evidence of his love is this, that he bestowed a creature on creatures, gave a worldly being on the world's behalf, granted one raised up from nothing for the redemption of objects equally raised up from nothing, such a cheap and petty sacrifice is a poor assurance of his favor toward us. Gifts of price are the evidence of affection: the greatness of the surrender is evidence of the greatness of the love. God, who loved the world, gave no adopted son but his own, his only begotten [Son]. Here is personal interest, true sonship, sincerity; not creation, or adoption, or pretence. Here is the proof of his love and affection, that he gave his own, his only begotten Son." (excerpt from ON THE TRINITY 6.40.27) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 3:14-21 comments that faith is a gift of grace from God. Our belief is more than intellectual assent or an act of the will. It’s a response to God’s initiative. His grace opens our minds to the truth and moves us to place our lives in Jesus’ hands. Belief isn’t possible without God’s initial intervention. The Catechism puts it succinctly: “In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace” (155).
Today is a day overflowing with grace. So turn to the Lord and affirm your faith. Tell Jesus that you believe he is who he says he is. Entrust your life to him. As you do, your faith will continue to grow, and you will trust even more deeply in Jesus’ promise of eternal life.
“Jesus, I believe in you!” (Meditation on John 3:14-21, n.d.)
Tom Shufflebotham SJ, a Jesuit of the British Province, points us in the direction of some New Testament characters who can be a source of encouragement for anyone who might be questioning whether they have, or still have, faith, or who might feel that prayer has deserted them.
Nicodemus flits in and out of John’s Gospel. It sounds as if he may have come away dispirited from a night-time conversation with Jesus (chapter 3): his embryonic faith had shown up as limited, unadventurous, mean-spirited. When he tries (chapters 7 & 12), timidly but with some dogged courage, to put in a word for Jesus, he gets short shrift from the Pharisees – and, it seems, from the evangelist, too. However, after the crucifixion (chapter 19) he is there, and he brings spices for Jesus’s burial. While all looks to be darkness and defeat, he doesn’t seem to say anything; he just does his corporal work of mercy, and that is no insignificant crumb of faith. And his name will forever be associated with the Jesus Christ who died and rose. (Shufflebotham, 2018)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the action of Cyrus, the Persian, who sent all the exiles in Babylon back to their homeland. The change in understanding salvation as now by the author of the Letter to the Ephesians is different from salvation at the second coming as suggested by Luke and John. Friar Jude reminds us of the role of totem items and comments on the dualism of the Gospel that presents the choice of good or evil.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to enter the Reign of God—what he describes as the “Really Real”—even though we face many difficult realities in our lives. Many Christians have mistakenly thought that the Reign of God is “eternal life,” or where we go after we die. That idea is disproven by Jesus’ own prayer: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). As always, Jesus joins earth and heaven.
“Thy Kingdom come” means very clearly that God’s realm is something that enters into this world, or, as Jesus often says, “is close at hand.” We shouldn’t project it into another world. It’s a reality that breaks into this world now and then, when people are like God.
God gives us just enough tastes of God’s realm to believe in it and to want it more than anything. In his parables, Jesus never says the Kingdom is totally now or totally later. It’s always now-and-not-yet. We only have the first fruits of the Kingdom in this world, but we experience enough to know it’s the only thing that will ever satisfy us. Once we have had the truth, half-truths can’t satisfy us anymore. In its light, everything else is relative, even our own life. When we experience the Kingdom or love of God, it becomes ultimate and real truth for us. (Rohr, n.d.)
We pray that the Spirit inform us about the “eternal life” that begins now as we accept with our free will the invitation of Jesus to live in the Love of the Trinity.
References
Ephesians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/2?4
John, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3?14
Meditation on John 3:14-21. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/03/10/910055/
Morse, E. (n.d.). Creighton University Online Ministries. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Archive/2018/031118.html
Psalms, PSALM 137 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/137?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Really Real. CAC Daily Mediations. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-really-real/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). God so Loved the World That He Gave Us His Only Son. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=mar10
Shufflebotham, T. (2018, March 7). Figures of faith. Thinking Faith. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/figures-faith
2 Chronicles, CHAPTER 36 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2chronicles/36?14
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