Tag: John 3:16

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:16-21)

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-begotten Son of God.

Today’s Gospel reading picks up where yesterday’s left off. In John’s words, the passage summarizes the conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus. So that everyone might have eternal life and because he loves the world he created, God sent his only-begotten Son “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish.” But because God made us to be free and respects free will, the choice to believe in the Son of God—the choice between light and darkness—is left to each person. “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,” John says, “but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.” In choosing Christ, we come willingly into the light of truth, seeking to do God’s will.

God, you fashioned the world out of love, and you love the world you created. Help me choose freely today to come toward the light of Christ your Son. Inclined toward sin, it’s not a given that I will choose to live in the truth of that light. Let me remember to call out to you for your help, and aid me today in choosing to do right and rejecting evil. In the words of the psalmist, grant me the grace to call on you in every distress and look to you so that I may be radiant with joy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Today’s Gospel picks up from yesterday’s passage, where Jesus teaches Nicodemus. So that everyone might have eternal life, God gave his only-begotten Son. In the words of John: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” The saving light of Christ did not stop people from preferring darkness to light, just as the Sanhedrin in the first reading from Acts had the Apostles put into prison. But God would not have it that darkness would overcome light. During the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, and by morning the court officers found the prison locked but empty. There are times, Lord, when I prefer darkness so that my sins might not be exposed. What can I do but turn to you for help?

God, I want to live in the light of your truth so that I know your will and do your works. Today there will be moments when darkness seems desirable, where choosing to do wrong and the captivity of sin seems preferable to believing in your Son. I ask you to come into those moments today and bring them into your light. Save me from the darkness of sin that has power over me only in so far as I keep it hidden from you. With the psalmist, I pray: “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him.”

Lord, be my companion today. Disperse the darkness with the breath of your Spirit, and save me from the darkness that I tend toward if left alone. Give me the grace today to take refuge in you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W-KSOPWWBY