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That God loved the world so much as to send the Only-Begotten Son to save and not condemn the world is not as easy a message to receive as it appears. If it were, would not everyone by now have embraced such a loving offer of salvation, wholeness and quality of life?
Testimony about the steadfast love of God, such as we hear in today’s first reading, and about the extent and results of the saving mercy of God that Paul’s letter to the Ephesians describes, is certainly helpful, but the Gospel reading encourages us to be even more personally engaged. Nothing short of a life-altering encounter with Jesus, involving honesty and repentance – and the cross – will do. Such an encounter is difficult, because seeing our lives in the light of Jesus and his self-sacrificial love reveals the truth of who we are, and requires of us a life-determining choice to become who we were meant to be.
We know that to accept Jesus as the gift of God who gives all for the sake of our salvation is lifegiving beyond our imagination. We ask for the grace to receive this gift wholeheartedly. We give thanks, too, for the Scriptures, each other, the Eucharist, and all the means by which we encounter and remember Christ. May the lives we live make it easier for others to meet and follow him.