Wednesday May 11, 2022

Wednesday of 4th Week in Easter

 

Christ Our Light Eternal Life

“I came not to judge the world but to save the world,” says Jesus to us today. What he came to bring us is life, life without end, eternal life. He comes as light in our world. If we believe in him, we come to see in his light where we lack love that moves the world, where our sense of justice is only half-hearted. In his light we learn to see how we can serve one another and become rich and mature as human beings. Then we too become small lights that bring a bit of light and warmth in our cold world.

 

First Reading: Acts 12:24-13:5 

Meanwhile, the ministry of God’s Word grew by leaps and bounds.

 Barnabas and Saul, once they had delivered the relief offering to the church in Jerusalem, went back to Antioch. This time they took John with them, the one they called Mark.

The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers:

Barnabas,
Simon, nicknamed Niger,
Lucius the Cyrenian,
Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod,
Saul.

One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”

^` So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off.

Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus. The first thing they did when they put in at Salamis was preach God’s Word in the Jewish meeting places. They had John along to help out as needed.

 

Gospel: John 12:44-50 

Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, “Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.

^` “If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn’t take it seriously, I don’t reject him. I didn’t come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I’m saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I’m not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That’s all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
through your Son Jesus Christ
you assure us that he came
not to condemn us but to bring us life,
a life worth living,
a life that is rich and refreshing us and our world
with love and a spirit of service.
Let Jesus stay with us
as the light in which we see
all that is good and worth living for
and let us share in his life that has no end.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

11 May 2022
John 12:44-50
God cannot save you without your consent.

Today we come to the end of what is known as the “Book of Signs” (chaps 1-12) of John’s Gospel. Through these seven signs – Jesus indicated who he is and what his mission is.

Today’s passage summarises all that has been said in the previous chapters. The text says that Jesus “cried out,” – giving extra emphasis to what he is proclaiming. They would be words addressed to no one in particular and reflect no particular context. Effectively, they summed up the essence of Jesus’ teaching. Their intended audience was the members of the community of believers of the time of John the Evangelist.

Very often, the narrative had spoken of the mission of Jesus as to reveal – the Father to the world. Jesus was the Word of God, the revelation of the mysterious God, in human form – he is the only reliable way human beings can truly know God. To believe in Jesus was to believe in the Father. It implies that there is also a personal commitment to Jesus and his mission.

People often suffer from nurturing a worng image of God – where God is understood as a judge, who would scrutinize our every thought, word, and action. He would reward us with heaven or punish us in hell. Today, the Gospel presents the consoling opromise of Jesus: “I do not judge them,
because I did not come to pass judgement on the world
but to save the world.” Now, the question before is a simple one: In which God do I belive? In a forgiving God or a punishing God?

As the revelation of the mystery of God, Jesus enabled people to see in him the divine love of God. He illuminates the mysteries of God while destroying the destructive energy of those who love themselves more than anything else-the darkness.

Jesus is the light that takes away the darkness we are surrounded with. He has come to bring salvation, bring wholeness to the world and not condemn it. Yet, the ‘word’ of Jesus is a challenge. It offers us a way of living and relating with God, others, and ourselves. If we choose another way and our lives go downhill, we have only ourselves to blame. But Jesus is always there to lift us. Indeed, salvation is a two-way process. God offers it to us but does not force it on us.

The God created you without your consent but cannot save you without your consent. Therefore, the imperative is to listen to the Word and live by his Word.

 

Video available on Youtube: God cannot save you without your consent.