Wednesday, April 15, 2015
WEDNESDAY, 2nd Week of Easter
April 15, 2015 WEDNESDAY, 2nd Week of Easter
White
Acts 5:17 – 26 / Jn 3:16 – 21
Reading: Acts 5:17 – 26
The High Priest and all his supporters, that is the party of the Sadducees, became very jealous of the apostles; so they arrested them and had them thrown into the public jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison during the night, brought them out, and said to them, "Go and stand in the Temple court and tell the people the whole of this living message." Accordingly they entered the Temple at dawn and resumed their teaching.
When the High Priest and his supporters arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, that is the full Council of the elders of Israel. They sent word to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. But when the Temple guards arrived at the jail, they did not find them inside, so they returned with the news, "We found the prison securely locked and the prison guards at their post outside the gate, but when we opened the gate, we found no one inside."
Upon hearing these words, the captain of the Temple guard and the high priests were baffled, wondering where all of this would end. Just then someone arrived with the report, "Look, those men whom you put in prison are standing in the Temple, teaching the people." Then the captain went off with the guards and brought them back, but without any show of force, for fear of being stoned by the people.
Gospel: Jn 3:16 – 21
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.
"This is how the Judgment is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deed would be shown as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light so that it an be cleanly seen that his works have been done in God."
Reflection:
"God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved." The "world" here refers to those who believe in Jesus: though they deserve of condemnation, instead they receive salvation.
What moved God not to condemn but to save? Love! "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life."
God's giving his only Son brings to mind Abraham's readiness to give up his only son Isaac, the son of his old age, born to his great surprise and delight, his hope for posterity. But God dashed his hope when he asked him to give up his only son. With great anguish, obediently Abraham was ready to do so at God's bidding. This context helps us to understand God's own giving up of his only Son for us: he loved us, believers yet sinners, very much.
At the core of God's nature are mercy and love, and not justice as many insist. Cardinal Kasper says that mercy is the key to understand God, "The God of the Old Testament is not an angry God but a merciful God . . . Thomas Aquinas clearly said that mercy is much more fundamental because God does not answer to the demands of our rules. Mercy is the faithfulness of God to his own being as love. Because God is love. And mercy is love revealed to us in concrete deeds and words." God's concrete deeds and words are best illustrated when he gave up his only beloved Son for us, believers and sinners.
Cardinal Kasper explains how this key understanding of God connects to our lives, "So mercy becomes not only the central attribute of God, but also the key of Christian existence. Be merciful as God is merciful. We have to imitate God's mercy."
WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:
BIRTHDAY
BABY EDEN J. BOBADILLA
MARIBEL FABELLA
SR. MA. EULALIA G. BANAWIS, RVM
OTHER INTENTIONS:
For the healing of Joy Droke, who has fought colon cancer since 2012.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 5:24 AM 
