Homily for April 15th, 2021: John 3:31-36.
“He does not
ration his gift of the Spirit,” we heard in the gospel. What does that mean? It
means that God’s gifts are without limit. When God gives, he gives totally and completely.
Jesus showed
that in his own life. When he turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana , the quantity of water changed into wine would have
kept the party going for a week. In every one of the six accounts of Jesus’
feeding a vast crowd in the wilderness, he gave them not just a snack. Always
there was food left over, even after all had eaten to the full. When God gives,
he gives not only abundantly, but superabundantly.
Whether I
offer Mass for one person, or for a hundred, does not affect the blessings that
each receives. God’s blessings are infinite. We come again and again to
Communion not because what we receive is limited, but because our capacity to receive is limited.
Jesus goes on
to say: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” We heard yesterday that
believing in someone means trusting
that person, and more: entrusting our
lives to him or her. Friends and disciples of Jesus Christ are people who entrust
their lives to him who is our best friend, our lover – but also our Savior, our
Redeemer, our God in human flesh.
And note:
Jesus does not say that we shall have
eternal life. No. He speaks in the present tense. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” – here and now. The
fellowship we have with the Lord Jesus continues on beyond death into eternity.
That is God’s plan and design for your life, and for mine. And the only thing
that can frustrate the fulfillment of that plan is our own final and deliberate
No.
That, friends,
is the gospel. That is the good news.
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