LENT ’09: 4th Sunday – By Fr. Gordon, imc.

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.
Brothers and sister in Christ, I would entitle this Sunday as the Sunday of Love… A Sunday of Joy and Trust for God is LOVE, and this is the underlying message of the Gospel of John.
When John presents us with the idea that God loves us SO MUCH… I was thinking of a situation of deep love, a love we can describe as “mad”. Let’s think of common expressions like, “I love you madly...” “I love you like crazy” etc. Or better, we can think of a young person lost in love that despite what the parents, the friends and so on may say, he/she sees nothing but the absolute person loved and he/she is ready to do whatever it costs to win the situation. This is the kind of love our God has for us, not that we are the best, not that we are perfect, no; He simply loves us without conditions, despite what others may say about us or how we may see ourselves, he loves us. Is this not crazy?
Well, what is funny in this Gospel is how John challenges us… That this love is shown in His son who died for us, that we know this and thus our condemnation is not anything strange but rather a personal conscious option… that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. Hey, halt a bit, did you get that right? That people preferred darkness to light? Why? What is disturbing them when they are in the light? What is it that I have that I fear to be discovered when I’m in the Light (of the Lord)? Should we continue hiding in darkness even when we have been found as today? (If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Heb. 3:15).
Beloved brothers and sisters, we sometimes think that God has abandoned us. We sometimes think that if we sin again, somehow we are no good. Instead, today God invites us over and over again to turn to Him. God knows that we are human and that in our struggles with sin, we will continue to fail and to fall. However, God is still with us and God still invites us to live in Him for He loves us.
This is the love we are called to share with others. Not actually to judge and condemn as we often do, but to be charitable to one another in the Lord and walk in His light. Love means, above all, interest for the other, participation in their reality, search and concern in their needs, bet all and stand by them. Love always wants the good of the beloved and tries to favour the other in every possible way. For those who love, the way and the fate of the loved one are not things of indifference; instead, they apply all possible forces to enable the other live with joy and fulfillment. May we be enlightened enough to put that in practice because GOD IS LOVE.