From the responsorial psalm: “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Taste and see how good the LORD is; blessed the man who takes refuge in him. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:31-36)
What is clear from today’s Gospel is the love of the Father for the Son and the complete abandonment of the Son to the will of the Father. The love of the Father abides fully in the Son. To obey the Son is to trust in God and participate in the fullness of his redemption through the resurrection. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” “The wrath of God remains upon,” John tells us, whoever disobeys the Son. Not an active divine punishment, wrath is the natural result of suffering through active rejection of belief in Christ. The wrath of God is a continual invitation to return to him wholeheartedly, to trust in his will and be obedient to it.
God, help me trust in you at all times and accept the testimony of your Son, who “testifies to what he has seen and heard” from above all. When I consider the trials and distress of the day that is certain to come, I want to hold fast to my faith. “Many are the troubles of the just man,” the psalmist says, “but out of them all the LORD delivers him.” And “When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.” Guide me in your ways today, Lord; teach me to persevere in faith in this life so that in the world to come I may one day give you unceasing praise and bless you at all times. Saint Stanislaus, pray for us!