Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: John 3: 14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, 
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

For 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.
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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I was a boy, I remember a Southern tale about a man who operated a bridge connecting his small town to another.

The man’s job was to raise that bridge when a ship was passing through the local waterway, and to lower it when a train was approaching.

One day, he brought his son to work to show him what Daddy did. The boy marveled at all of the switches, the windows, and the seemingly magical bridge that was raised and lowered by the flick of his father’s finger.

When it came time for the final train of the day to pass through, the father realized that his son had gone missing.

From his tower post, he saw his boy playing at the base of the hill, right where the train was coming and the bridge was set to drop.

He knew if he lowered the bridge without warning that it’d kill his son. But if he didn’t, then the train speeding towards them would be derailed, crashing into the river below, killing everyone on board.

This poor father had to make a split-second decision: to lower the bridge or to rush and save his son.

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He lowered the bridge.

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No one onboard that train knew about the sacrifice this father made as the train sped on.

But how might these passengers’ lives have been changed if they known about this father’s sacrifice, that his son died in their place?

Would they have returned to thank him? Or made some effort to pay it forward?

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus shares, perhaps, his most popular words ever spoken:

“For 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.”

Just as that father lowered the bridge, allowing the train to pass through safely saving everyone onboard, so God lowered the bridge from heaven to earth at the cost of his Son, allowing humanity to pass safely into eternal life.

Imagine all the people onboard this train. God does not discriminate between one passenger and another. All who believe in him Sha find eternal life.

In fact, he’d lower that bridge if you or I were the only person onboard.

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How does this truth change us?

Are we ever like those passengers onboard the train, which sped along without us aware of what happened? Have we sped through Lent?

Or have our hearts been transformed by Christ’s sacrifice, inspiring us to pay it forward?

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In three weeks, we will celebrate Easter, this marvelous truth that God has loved us and given himself for us. 

He has lowered the bridge.

May these remaining weeks of Lent be marked with ever deeper faith and gratitude that, “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.”

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Image credits: (1) Alabaster Grace Ministries (2) Reddit (3) Christ is a Bridge to Heaven, Elizabeth Wang, Fine Art America

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Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
with all your soul, 
with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding, 
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In Jesus’ time, there were two major schools of thought. 

Some Jews wanted to expand the Law as much as possible. They were meticulous and exceptionally detailed; so much so that, in addition to the 10 Commandments, they created 613 extra rules to follow!

Other Jews treated the Law like an accordion. They wanted to collapse it down to its very essence.

This is the approach that Jesus takes.

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Collapsing the Law, he says the entirety of it – and by extension all of Christianity – can be summarized in a single word: love.

But what exactly is love?

Love’s a bit like humility; it’s hard to define. But you know it when you see it. You know it when you feel it. And you know it when you don’t.

Throughout the centuries, poets like Dante have tried to define it with varying degrees of success. For example, he once wrote, “Love is what moves the sun and the other stars.” 

Perhaps a bit too abstract. Shakespeare, on the other hand, stated it practically.

In one of the most famous scenes from Romeo and Juliet, a young Juliet gazes down upon Romeo from her balcony and says to him:

“Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

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That’s the very essence of love: the more we give, the more we have.

Juliet lived in a world of “we,” not “me.”

Married couples and parents understand this well. Think of how delighted you are when you see your children succeed.  

Or the delight teachers experience when they teach their students how to read. Or the sense of meaning we find when giving the perfect gift, forgiving a neighbor, or volunteering to help the most vulnerable among us.

If Juliet is right, the more we give to anyone, the happier we become. This is why love fulfills the Law; it’s the force that moves the sun and the other stars. 

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So, how can we be like Christ, giving more of ourselves away today?

The more we do, the happier we’ll become.

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Image credits: (1) AZ Quotes (2) CL, Church Leaders (3) Connie Hertz

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Gospel: Luke 11: 14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, 
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Auto-immune diseases, such as type-1 diabetes or arthritis, confuse the body’s natural defense system so that the body can no longer tell the difference between a healthy or an unhealthy cell.

Mysteriously, normal cells are mistaken for a threat, causing the body to attack itself.

As a result, an otherwise healthy human being becomes like a “house divided,” as Jesus describes in today’s Gospel, causing unnecessary pain – sometimes to an excruciating level.

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When we gaze across the world of politics and religion, we can see a similar phenomenon unfolding, even in our own country.

At times, a baptized person is not seen as a fellow Christian (or even as an American), but as “pro-this” or “anti-that.” As a result, we fight amongst ourselves, destroying the unity of Christ’s body here on earth.

Yet the Lord prayed during his final night, “That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:21).

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While we may have our differences, there’s one thing that should transcend it all – our love for Jesus, demonstrated by how we treat Him in our neighbor.

In what ways can I strive for greater unity – at home, at work, in the Church, online?

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“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste,” Jesus warns. 

May we do our part to retain the unity Christ desires, seeking common ground, praying for and listening to each other, always remembering – “that” person is not an enemy, rather a brother or sister in Christ.

Come, Holy Spirit, make us one in Jesus.

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Image credits: (1)WVBS – World Video Bible School (2) News-Medical (3) Zarephath Christian Church, YouTube