Do You Know John 3:16?

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 5:17-26 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ 

~~~ John 3:16-21 ~~~

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might not perish

but might have eternal life.

God sent his only Son so that everyone 

who believes...might have eternal life.

Have you ever considered just 

how generous and magnanimous God is.

He could have said...look I have my favorite people

 and I am going to provide for their salvation...

everyone else is on their own.

Imagine if we had no model to follow...

no teachings from Jesus to give us hope...?

How would we be able to find 

our was in the darkness of the world?

How would we be sure that we 

could live a holy life?

How would we be able to comprehend

 a love greater than what we share?

How could we believe in our own personal eternal life?

Would salvation be a surprise after we took our final breath?

Would we believe that death really was the end of all?

...And this is the verdict,

that the light came into the world...

God sent his only Son to be the light of the world.

We still live in a world filled with darkness.

Many times a darkness that we no longer identify as darkness.

If you always wear your sunglasses

 the light from the sun would not be experienced.

If one day you removed your sunglasses

your eyes would automatically want to close.

The light of the sunshine would

 be too bright to keep your eyes open. 

John 3:16 inspires us to seek the light.

For it is precisely the light that leads us to 

our personal eternal salvation.

It is through this Light

that we are saved.

Without the Light we would be eternally lost.

There is nothing greater than this love God has for us.

God did not create the world we know 

just to sit back and watch it all crumble and fall apart.

God has a vested interest in your eternal salvation.

Today the Gospel from John

 gives us inspired proof.

Blessings...the closer we come to the Light.

~~~ Saving Peace ~~~

Endorsed By The Father

~~~ Exodus 32:7-14 ~~~ Psalm 106 ~~~ John 5:31-47 ~~~

Jesus said to the Jews: 
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.

Jesus did not come to toot his own horn.
Jesus did not have a teleprompter
 to coach him in his preaching.
Jesus did not have social media
to keep up with his popularity.

 Jesus had the testimony of God the Father.
Remember the Baptism of Jesus
and the Transfiguration events?
God spoke from the cloud of Jesus being his beloved Son.
God tells us to listen to the words of Jesus.

Jesus did not speak on his own;
he came to do the will of the Father.

The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.

Everything Jesus does comes through the Father.
They are united. They are one.

You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

God sent Jesus to reconcile us to himself.
Jesus came for us so that we might believe that God
wants us to have life eternal.

Those who survive on the Scriptures but
continue to turn away from the person of Jesus
are surely to be disappointed.

The Old Testament contains
 inspired texts from the prophets
foreshadowing the coming of Jesus
yet many did not believe.

Jesus says if you did not believe
Moses and the prophets
then why would you now believe me?

God himself endorsed Jesus
as the one to whom we must listen.

If you listen to the teachings of Jesus
you will be Blessed to humbly follow him.

God sent Jesus to us...for us.
~~~Peace~~~

Testimony of Eternal Life

~~~ 1 John 5:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 147 ~~~ Luke 5:12-16 ~~~

If we accept human testimony,

the testimony of God is surely greater. 

We live in a world where the concept of truth

 is covered with skepticism.

We have learned to question everything we are told.

Now days we must also question what we see.

There is very little area of our life that cannot be manipulated.

Over time the prolific manipulation of the truth

makes us weary as we search for the truth.

In our court rooms those who testify 

promise with their hand upon the Bible

 to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...

This too holds less and less a basis for truth.

It seems that all things can be modified without our knowledge.

We have become masters at slanting the truth...

at omitting details of the truth.

And this is the testimony:

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

God is the truth...his words are truth.

Some have become conditioned to question

 the truths within the pages of Scripture.

We have difficulty knowing with confidence when truth is present.

The Spirit is the one who testifies,

and the Spirit is truth. 

We were born with this Spirit of truth

 embedded within our soul.

Over time it becomes increasingly 

difficult to access this place of truth.

All of creation testifies to the truth of God.

Jesus came to live among us a testimony for eternal salvation.

Jesus testifies in Spirit, water, and Blood.

When you feel that all truth is lost,

remember the one truth of our eternal life.

This one truth is already within your soul.

God never lies to us.

God only speaks words of truth.

God blesses us with life...now and forever.

Speak words of truth

revealed to us through the Spirit.

Be a person of truth...

believe the promised truth of your eternal life.

Blessings of Testimony in the Spirit.

~~~Peace~~~

The Eternal Bond

~~~ Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~ Proverbs 9:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ 

Ephesians 5:15-20 ~~~ John 6:51-58 ~~~

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.

How many times have you heard...
You are what you eat.
This is exactly what happens when we
receive the Body and Blood of Jesus...
when we eat and drink from his gift of eternal salvation.

When we consume the very body and blood of Jesus
he becomes part of our living flesh and blood.
We are the living tabernacles holding his precious body.
It is his flesh and blood that nourishes your soul.
He takes us unto himself every time we receive Eucharist.
He bonds himself to every cell in your being.
This bond goes beyond your physical body;
this bond flows into your soul.
This bond is undetectable with the naked eye.
This bond exists over all of time.

How can you ignore or even deny your body
 and soul such an eternal bond?

It is not necessary for you to try to understand this unique bond
you have with Jesus through the Eucharist.
The mystery of this relationship you have with Jesus
is meant to keep you returning time and time again.

This relationship is meant to sustain you until
 you are perfectly united with God in heaven.

The perfection of the Eucharist enters into our imperfect
bodies and makes us holy.

Who else but our loving God would
allow such a relationship?
We are not worthy to receive him,
but none the less he gives of himself to us.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Jesus is the Living Bread.
He is the Way the Truth and the Life.
It would be foolish of us to miss the gift he gives of himself.

Accept his gift of life as often as you can receive Eucharist.
It is his true presence within the bread and wine
that brings new life to your soul.
This is the life you long for in the depths of your heart.

Blessed to receive the most precious
Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

~~~Peace~~~

One with the Heart of God

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 20:17-27 ~~~ Psalm 68 ~~~ John 17:1-11A ~~~

Now this is eternal life,

that they should know you, the only true God,

and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

To know God is to love him and to love him is to have eternal life in him.

What if eternal life is not restricted to a location with boundaries?

What if our whole understanding of eternal life is just a tad off center.

In the world of science just one small miscalculation

 can completely change the outcome.

Here we are speaking about something that we really know very little about.

It is this promise and belief of eternal life that keeps us faithful.

What if eternal life actually happens

 when we enter into full communion with the heart of God.

The heart of God is where the fullness of life resides.

He is the source...eternal life is being fully integrated

 into the source of all love and goodness.

Sounds like heaven to me.

Jesus came down from heaven to save us.

He says he is going to make a place for us.

He says he and the Father are one.

We are loved and saved because of the Father.

He wants us to be with him in heaven

 for all of eternity.

He wants us to become one 

with his tremendous love, 

in order to do that

 we must become one with his heart.

The Blessings he has waiting for us in eternity

 are far greater than we could bear to receive while here on earth.

~~~Peace~~~

Spirit and Life

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 9:31-42 ~~~ Psalm 116 ~~~ John 6:60-69 ~~~

 Does this shock you?

In our world today there is not too many things that shock us.

We are surrounded, thanks to the media, with so many horrific things

 that we have become numb to being shocked.

What would shock you today?

Have you ever thought about it?

The terrible events on 9/11 certainly shocked our entire nation,

but now not even flying jets into buildings would shock us.

How sad our world has become.

I challenge you to look for anything positive that shocks you.

Jesus was preaching about wonderful things...

life eternal...nourishment from his body and blood...

raising people from the dead...

All of this was too much for many of his so called followers;

so they turned and walked away.

Would you have stayed?

Do you believe these things today?

Even if you are a faithful attendee at church; 

do you truly believe?

Do you still hold on to some form of doubt?

It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.

The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

Jesus is the only one who can nourish

 our soul and our body.

He gives us his spirit of life.

He gives us his body and blood to sustain our soul.

Who gives you more?

 Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.

I want to have the conviction

 like Peter when he spoke these words to Jesus.

To whom shall we go, there is no other like our God.

There is no other who has a fraction

 of the capacity to love like him.

There is no other who has the words of eternal life

even if they make such empty claims.

Let yourself be shocked, that is blessed,

 by something good and wonderful during the next few weeks.

It might not make the news, just let it shock your heart.

We are Blessed with Spirit and Life.

~~~Peace~~~

Get Up...Keep Going

~~~ Numbers 21:4-9 ~~~Psalm 102 ~~~ John 8:21-30 ~~~

Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

We are no different than the people who followed Moses.

We too get weary with our life journey.

We get frustrated and rebel in our own way against God.

Sometimes we expect more from God.

We are like spoiled little children 

whining about not getting our way.

So God sent serpents to bite the people

 in response to their grumbling.

We have the numerous temptations of our world.

We are constantly bombarded with attractive 

opportunities to turn away from God...to sin.

Moses did as God instructed, made a bronze serpent

and mounted it high upon a pole.

All who gazed upon it lived.

Do you see any parallel here with Jesus?

Jesus was raised upon the cross so that we may have life.

Our life is not life in this world, 

but rather life in the next.

Looking upon the cross is the reality of our sinfulness.

It appears that Jesus is alone hanging on the cross,

but the Father is with him.

It is the Father that gives him the necessary 

strength to complete the journey.

...The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.

While we may not say that we 'always'

do what is pleasing to God,

but what we can say it that God is always with us.

He will never leave us alone.

We chose to walk away from him in our frustrations.

It is our frustrations with life that cause us 

to enter into the darkness of sin.

If we were to be more accepting 

of just what has been freely given to us

what could possibly frustrate us?

Jesus showed us how to triumph over our frustrations.

He fell three times while carrying the cross to Calvary.

Every time he got up and took another step forward.

He could have easily become frustrated and slumped to the ground.

Jesus had the assurance and conviction that he was not alone.

I pray that our conviction and assurance of God's presence

 with grow with each passing day.

Blessed to have the Crucifix as a reminder.

Get up.

Do not be frustrated.

Keep going.

Try and try again.

Look intently upon the Crucifix.

 Although we are 'bitten' we will have life eternal.

Peace

as our Lenten journey continues.

Beyond the Sacred Words

~~~ Exodus 32:7-14 ~~~ Psalm 106 ~~~ John 5:31-47 ~~~

Moses tries to reason with God.

This is almost a comical scenario. On the other hand 

does it say something more about the relationship Moses had with God?

He felt like he could speak openly and honestly with God.

God had been providing everything for the Israelite people.

He just could not keep them satisfied.

They were an impatient people.

They turned to alternative means to make 

themselves feel better.

We do this as well...

that is how we end up finding ourselves in sin.

Understandably God was not happy.

Moses even goes so far as to remind God what his enemies might say.

They might accuse God of setting up this whole journey
as a trap to trick the people.

Of course we know this is not the

Moses assumed responsibility for the whole group,

whether it was right or wrong. 

You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

Moses had a personal relationship with God.
Sometimes we forget that God wants to have a
personal relationship with each of us as well.
While I certainly love the Scriptures,
 we cannot fool ourselves into believing that knowing bible verses
replaces this relationship with God.

When Jesus walked among his people
they had the unique opportunity
 to have a tangible relationship with him.

God led Moses so that he could lead the people to the Promised Land.
God took care of their physical needs...
protecting them in battle...
feeding them in the desert...
giving them water...

When Jesus came the entire scenario was refined
to include the care of one's soul, the spiritual life.

Jesus says one does not live by bread alone...
one cannot have a personal relationship with God
by reading the Scriptures alone.

The Scriptures are truly designed to lead us into
a greater relationship with God.
We must go beyond the words on the page.

Jesus sees into the heart.
Jesus knows what is not spoken.

Knowledge of the Scriptures hopefully leads us to
the font of eternal life...
Jesus.
Those who came before Jesus to testify on his behalf were transient.
When Jesus comes he is not transient; he will be
with us until the end of time.

Blessed to be given the living Word of God.
May these words be the conduit to a
deeper relationship with the Lord.
It is only by coming to him that we will have eternal life.
Peace.

The Crib was Still Warm

~~~ 1 John 5:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 147 ~~~ Luke 5:12-16 ~~~

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

The gift of the Son, Jesus, gives us our life.
Not just our physical life but our eternal life with him in heaven.
Jesus is our life force.
We get our life energy from the Son, Jesus.
If God had not sent Jesus, the Son,
we do not know what our salvation would look like.
John writes to us about our eternal life today.
While we are still in the season of the joy of Christmas
we are being faced with our death.
The only way to appreciate what has been given
you must be made aware of the gift.
We have to understand now
while the crib is still warm what we have been given.

I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

We don't just have a sweet touching story here.
The animals did not gather around the manger to keep the baby warm.
The wise men did not come just to see the new baby king.
Joseph didn't have ordinary dreams.

Every last detail was part of God's plan to save us.
He wanted to save you before you were ever born.

We do not have eternal life like the movie vampire creatures.
We have eternal life because it has been given to us...
it is God's gift to us.
Everything in the universe seems to be very organized
so it is not surprising to me that our salvation
would have also been highly organized. 

God sent his Son to begin our saving process,
leaving much of the final parts to be done by us.
Individually we have to complete in our own hearts
what God began when his only begotten Son became man.

As always, we have a choice....
We can either cherish and nourish the gift or
let it wither and fall away.

Jesus saved us from the warmth of the crib.
That was the beginning of his salvation gift.
We have received; now we must put it to good use.

...he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
Jesus withdrew to pray.
He prayed for us, that we would all
see his gift and appreciate it.

Blessings in appreciating the great gift of salvation.
The birth of Our Lord is the beginning of our salvation.
The Father eagerly waits our arrival into his eternal kingdom...
heaven.

Reaching Out

~~~ 1 John 5:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 147 ~~~ Luke 5:12-16 ~~~

 

'...Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.'

 

Every time we attend Mass and receive Eucharist

we possess the Son, Jesus.

He comes into our mind and body in the presence

of the consecrated bread and wine.

His presence within stirs our heart to new life.

 

The body demands our attention now.

The body sometimes gets more of our attention than our soul.

Many do not even notice when the heart is starving.

 

The life we receive from the Son

is the greatest life...eternal life. 

Eternal life that can only come through the Son.

 

 

The man stricken with leprosy...

'...fell prostrate, pleaded with him,(Jesus) and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

 

The leper, as we know from scripture, was cured that day.

Jesus reached out to the man and touched him,

something that most people would not have done.

It was too dangerous.

You were directly exposing yourself to this dreaded disease.

The leper took a risk just be calling out to Jesus.

Imagine his surprise when Jesus reached out and touched him.

He understandably could not contain his joyful appreciation.

 

'...If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.'

 

Where does God need to touch your life?

If you call out to him he will surprise you with his touch.

Being among the unclean stricken with leprosy

gave the person reason to despair.

There is no place in your life where God

cannot enter.

 

Let today bring the touch of the Lord to that place

where you feel less than whole.

Be Blessed!

Who is Your Neighbor?

~~~ Galatians 1:6-12 ~~~ Psalm 111 ~~~ Luke 10: 25-37 ~~~

 

To inherit eternal life you must...

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."

 

The scholar of the law knew the correct answer even before he met up with Jesus.

You undoubtedly knew the correct answer before reading these verses as well.

 

The real question is how to accomplish this prescribed entry fee.

The first four points seem relatively easy...well at least doable.

It is the last few words that seem to send us into a tail spend.

'love God and your neighbor as yourself'

 

Even the scholar is struggling with this last phrase.

"And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus gives him an example.

First he sets up the scene...a man falls victim to some robbers,

he was stripped, beaten, and left on the side of the road for dead.

 

This victim represents the last person you would want to stop and help.

He is a stranger. He is a victim of a violent crime. He is naked. He is bruised and bloody. He is lying helplessly on the side of the road.

 

It would be easy just to pass him by; thinking that he was too needy.

Or thinking there was no use in stopping

 since he was too near death from his wounds.

 

Jesus describes someone as the neighbor that you would find difficult to love.

He does not give an example of a young woman

needing help carrying her water jugs

 up the hill to her house.

No.

Jesus uses an example of someone in a dire situation

to make his point even more emphatic.

 

To love your neighbor as you love God

you must be willing to overlook those you find less lovable...

those you might judge to be less worthy of love.

 

Jesus was implying that 'everyone' is your neighbor.
The victim is naked thus preserving his anonymity.

 

A priest and a Levite both go out of their way to ignore the victim on the side of the road. They both moved away from the victim to the other side of the road.

It might have been excusable if perhaps they had not seen the man, but they make the decision to move to the other side of the road.

They did not want to be bothered with this neighbor.

He was not someone they were willing to give care or attention to.

 

In fact they were willing to pretend that he did not even exist.

If they were on the other side of the road perhaps they were excused from helping.

How do you feel about that concept?

 

The Samaritan man goes above and beyond to help this man.

Not only does he give immediate care to his wounds,

but he carries him to a place to rest and further heal.

The Samaritan takes the victim to a place of safety.

He sees beyond the present situation.

 

Is this what it means to love with your whole heart?

Is this what it means to love your neighbor?

The Samaritan treated this man as a real neighbor.

He did not treat him as a stranger, which of course he was.

 

The Samaritan not only carried the man to a place of rest, but he remained there with him. He cared for the man. He put his own plans aside for this needy victim.

Would you be willing to make such a sacrifice?

Would you be willing to put your own agenda aside to care for a stranger?

 

 

I think it is safe to say that most of us would not go to such lengths.

We would not be able to show such love for a total stranger

who had been victimized and left for dead.

 

Today every state has what is called

'the Good Samaritan Law'.

This law was inspired by today's parable.

It protects someone who stops to give emergency aid to another person.

 

Even our laws seem to encourage us to care for a stranger

as if he were our neighbor.

A Good Samaritan is a person who sees the need to help someone

and reaches out to that person. 

 

Look for opportunities to love your neighbor

even if that person is a stranger.

Loving others as you love God and yourself is not an option

if you want to attain eternal life.

It is required!

God never promised it would be easy.

Seen or Unseen?

~~~ Ez 24:15-24 ~~~ Psalm (Dt 32) ~~~ Matthew 19:16-22 ~~~

A young man approaches Jesus hoping to learn what he

must do to gain eternal life.

Jesus gives the logical answer...

"If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Of course keeping the commandments is a good place

to begin if you are serious about securing eternal life.

Notice the words Jesus uses here...

If you wish to enter into life.....life.

Jesus does not use the word 'eternal'

in his response to the young man.

Jesus simply states 'life'...

for Jesus life is eternal.

They are one in the same...eternal and life.

Jesus offers us eternal life.

You can only give that which you already possess.

Yes, Jesus may grant you any sort of life you want.

There are many adjectives we could use to describe the kind of

or quality of life we desire.

But there can only be one eternal life and it comes

directly from the source of life itself.

If we want to live with Jesus, then the 'life' will be eternal.

The life we live now is the preparation for our eternal life with God.

If today you are not living and looking forward to this

eternal life then what is the point?

What is the point of keeping the commandments if you

are not fixated on this promise of eternal life?

This young man asks a valid question.

He was trying to live a good life.

He was keeping the commandments...

including loving his neighbor as himself.

Perhaps there was a voice inside of him that thought;

should I be doing more?

The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"

There is so much we as humans lack when it comes to

eternal life. This young man exhibits maturity beyond his years

that he can ask such a question. 

So many times a young person thinks they have already

discovered all the answers.

I remember those days well when I would come home

from college for a visit

thinking I was filled with so much knowledge.

I laugh now at how naive I was back then.

As so often happens with Jesus encounters;

he pushes the envelope with his answer to this young man.

Jesus says great you are keeping the commandments and

you want more?

Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."

Now Jesus adds a new dimension to this concept

of eternal life...being perfect.

Apparently just keeping the commandments

alone does not make one perfect.

Must one be perfect to have eternal life with Jesus?

The young man is not prepared to follow Jesus;

he cannot give up all of his earthly possessions.

He is young living in the first half of his life, proud

of the material things he has been able to accumulate for himself.

The treasure waiting for us in heaven is far beyond what we can fathom.

We are so restricted by our material things that we cannot

imagine happiness without them.

It is so difficult to see that God alone is enough.

Let's face it we are attached to our worldly things.

We like our cars, homes, phones, computers etc. the list is endless.

Jesus is suggesting to the young man here that just maybe

the things he has are his greatest hindrance to gaining eternal life.

All of our possessions keep us grounded here in the world.

Our real life is outside of these material possessions.

Our real life only exists with God.

Henri Nouwen wrote in Bread for the Journey...

'The poor have a treasure to offer because they cannot return our favors.'

Our reward comes in heaven.

Lord, help me to see beyond my possessions in order to

live my life with eyes fixed on

eternal life with you.

Guidelines to Eternal Life

~~~ St. Jude 17, 20b-25 ~~~Psalm 63 ~~~ Mark 11: 27-33 ~~~

"Build yourselves up in your most holy faith;

pray in the Holy Spirit.

Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait

for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life."

Here we have it...the 'yellow brick road' to heaven.

It is all very simple build in faith, prayer in the Spirit,

remain in God's love, and wait for his mercy.

Well of course I am joking about it being simple.

Our faith is constantly under construction. Every time we hear a story of another believer our faith is fortified. Every time we ourselves experience an answered prayer; our faith is anchored to the foundation of who we are.

If you are a person inclined at all toward praying then you most assuredly

know how to pray in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit places prayers upon your heart. The desires to speak words of praise and adoration come through the Holy Spirit.

The gifts and the Fruit of the Holy Spirit are some of the many avenues we can be praying in the Spirit.

The next part of this verse is becomes a little more difficult to practice...

in order to remain in the love of God requires a certain degree of personal holiness.

To remain in the love of God you must guard the intentions of your heart.

To remain in the love of God means refraining from committing sins.

We all stumble and fall occasionally; we are not perfect try as we will. How many times I have been able to agree with St. Paul...the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Even with the best of intentions we find ourselves slipping into our old sins of comfort.

But what is important is to remember the next phrase...wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Waiting requires patience and trust. We can wait in hope for the Lord is always true to his promise of Divine mercy. For he is a merciful and forgiving God.

Believe in God's mercy...he died for you and me...

he wants us to join him in heaven someday.

His love and mercy endure forever.

Does It Get Any Better?

~~~ Acts 4: 32-37 ~~~ Psalm 93 ~~~ John 3: 7b-15 ~~~

We are reminded again of how the community lived together and joined all of their possessions for the good of the others. The apostles acted with great power from the Holy Spirit. Well known people even came with generous offerings and gave them to the disciples who distributed the funds to the needy.

Life was good.

They were living in the joy of the Lord.

Living in Joy makes all the difference in the world. Our society today rarely exhibits joyful living. Every night we are fed a steady diet of crime and violence...hardly what one would consider joy.

Nicodemus is a well educated person. What Jesus is saying to him cannot be learned from studying books. Jesus is speaking of things that blossom within the heart. The works of the Spirit are too mysterious to be captured in words.

We cannot grasp heavenly things, we accept them in faith.

Just as Moses lifted the serpent and cured the poisonous snake bites...

Our Lord was lifted upon a tree, the cross, to cure us of our sinfulness and purchase for us eternal life.

Everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Live your life intending to bring joy to those around you.

The All-Inclusive Gift

Today is the traditional day we celebrate the Magi's arrival to the Christ child. We have created a wonderful scenario around this event. And whether or not you buy into the whole following the star business the message is still powerful to me.

Jesus came to be the Savior to all of us. Jesus came so that we all might have eternal life.

Mary and Joseph traveled away from their home for the birth of Jesus. He was born in a poverty painted environment. The poor shepherds came as they were tending their sheep. The angels sang from on high. And then the three wise men arrived bearing gifts worthy of a king. They brought fine kingly gifts to a baby...a baby that would bring salvation to all.

These three wise men also represented the richness available to us if we believe and follow Jesus. If we but 'Come and See' as we have heard in the last couple gospels. These three wise men were from very different backgrounds than the shepherds...

You see eternal life is an all inclusive deal. The gift of salvation is an all or nothing package.

John tells us in today's reading from his first letter Chapter 5:11-12, "...God gave us eternal life, and this life is in the Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life." John is speaking with passion for what he knows to be truth. He wants his readers and listeners to catch his wave of passion. He says I am writing these things because I want you to know that you have eternal life. He is sharing the Good News!

You cannot believe in something you do not know anything about. He is pumping up their faith and our faith. We too need to be reminded of the promise of our eternal life.

It is a challenge to believe in something that would last for eternity. We have nothing concrete with which to compare eternity. There is no reference point. What does eternity mean to you?

We measure everything by time. Even if we look to the heavens for the meaning of eternity we are fooled. Scientists today have learned, through powerful telescopes, so much about our Universe. We now know stars are born and die daily. So even they cannot represent eternity to us.

Today as we are reminded of the three wise men let us also remember that the promise of eternal life is for all who believe without exception. Rejoice in this truth!

The original picture is of the Resurrection.

This kaleidoscope image reflects to me the magnificent light of eternal life.