Gospel: John
3:13-17
(Jesus
said to Nicodemus) 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come
down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have
eternal life.” 16 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. 17 For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him.
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Reflection:
Why do we
suffer or what is the purpose of our suffering in this world? We suffer because
we refuse to embrace the love of God. Human suffering is not a suffering that
God created for us because it’s us who create our own suffering/s. And when we
suffer we point not to ourselves as the culprit but to God as the creator of our
suffering/s.
Think
about the many wars that the powerful leaders of this world have created. Think about
the many personal and family problems that we have created for ourselves.
Nevertheless in the midst of our self-created sufferings there’s hope and this
hope is being offered to us by Jesus on the cross.
Perhaps, many
of us are averse to look at this cross of Jesus because we are reminded of
Jesus’ own sufferings. We are reminded that to suffer entails hardship and
sacrifice. But how could we know that there’s hope, healing and salvation in
the cross of Jesus if we will not look-up to it, if we will not embrace it and
if we will not hold-on to it?
In our
first reading the people that were saved by Moses from the slavery of Pharaoh
created their own sufferings by complaining to Moses about their hardships. And
by complaining they were severely punished by God yet they would also be saved
by the same merciful God. If they’ll look up the bronze serpent mounted on a
pole. We all know that the bronze serpent that was mounted on the pole that
healed the suffering people in our first reading is now represented by Jesus on
the cross in our gospel.
We have
so many sufferings in this world and majority if not all of these sufferings are
created by us that we ironically often times blame on God. Nevertheless our
merciful God so loved us that He let His only begotten son to die on the cross
for our salvation.
Do you
have a cross with Jesus nailed upon it in your house or in your room? Look at
it hold it if you could and prayerfully ask Jesus to heal all your pains and
sufferings. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
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