(Jn 3:31-36)

In the Gospel passage, John uses descriptive categories [from above, from below, from heaven, from the earth - that is, our whole “domain”].

Natural terms, to introduce us to the Person of the revealing Son, and the importance of his proposal for real life.

Indeed, the divine condition of the Father's Envoy proceeds from the human dimension.

However, his earthly nature is incomparable to his origin as a being from heaven, superior to any possible contention.

The Messiah testimony about the world above is a Word that challenges us. But it is not accepted (cf. Jn 1:11) by a «world» (Jn 1:10) that loves only what corresponds to it.

Yet those who accept such a testimony (cf. Jn 1:12) harbour within themselves the same Revealer - because of the identity between the Person and the Word.

In the expressions of the One who unveils, God's plans and action are made manifest (v.33).

It is the Master of Nazareth who shows the truth of the Most High.

For the Father has bestowed upon the Son his entire Spirit «not with measure»  (v.34); no limits, no restrictions, as e.g. in prophets, kings or patriarchs.

And he who believes in the Son is of the Father - he is already at the level of eternity: he has in him the same «Life of the Eternal» (v. 36).

He who welcomes Christ already lives in God. He is turned to the Father; he enjoys his ineffable presence, assimilates and speaks his ‘language’ unique.

He becomes capable of non-unilateral relationships, because he knows how to recover opposites.

Only from the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit [and its participation: v.34] comes adherence to a Torah imprinted in the heart, as well as self-acknowledged obedience.

In this way, it becomes Resemblance, which takes the story of the new Master as its criterion.

Keeping the precepts of the Pentateuch seemed to bring «long days and years of life and so much peace» (Pr 3,1-2).

A [normal] expected fulfilment was assumed from the fulfilments of the Law and oral tradition.

Salvation, on the other hand, does not come from origins, from 'territory' (v.31) - culture and ethnicity.

Nor does redemption proceed from the outcome of a verification of ancient teaching.

Complete realisation seizes us - rather - from believing in the Son (v.36): absolute ‘birth’ [always renewed] imparted by the Spirit who does not hinder.

Spirit of divine configuration, communicated (precisely) «not with measure».

Ancient religions promise “eternal life” - in some cases, almost a consolation prize after the hardships of this vale of tears.

Alienation that breaks wings, produces alibis, and makes one external, already registered and predictable.

The «Life of the Eternal» (v.36), the very, intimate Life of God, is instead a condition that dwells, bursting into our paths.

It does so with eccentric, unprecedented inclinations; previously inconceivable - where we are ourselves, not reduced creatures.

It can be experienced in the concrete, even excessive, ways of being that correspond to an unveiling, a 'revelation' within us.

Especially in the Fourth Gospel, the dimension of the Eternal is a protruding measure, yes, but embodied and in action. Not by natural virtue, but by openness to Totality.

For the action of the Spirit, which ceaselessly creates and regenerates - and weaves a radical empathy into being.

It is not we who produce the Love that fills and activates, or that can return us to life without restriction.

But the dimension of Sons who from Baptism know and recognise themselves in the Fullness, concerns us.

Then - as in Jesus the Son - everything is placed in our hands (v.35).

To internalize and live the message:

What vocational excess have you left in abeyance?

[Thursday 2nd wk. of Easter, April 16, 2026]

(Jn 3:31-36)

In the pericope Jn uses descriptive categories [from above, from below, from heaven, from the earth - i.e. our whole "domain"].

Natural terms, to introduce us to the Person of the revealing Son, and the importance of his proposal for real life.

In fact, the divine condition of the Father's Envoy proceeds from the human dimension.

However, his earthly nature is incomparable to his origin as a being from heaven, superior to all competition.

The Messiah's testimony about the world above is a Word that challenges us. But it is not accepted (cf. Jn 1:11) by a "world" (Jn 1:10) i.e. an official religious institution that only loves what corresponds to it.

And yet those who accept this testimony (cf. Jn 1:12) harbour within themselves the same Revealer - because of the identity between the Person and the Word.

In the expressions of the One who unveils, God's designs and action are made manifest (v.33).

It is the Master of Nazareth who shows the truth of the Most High.

For the Father has granted to the Son the whole of his Spirit "not with measure" (v.34); no limits, no restrictions, as e.g. in prophets, kings or patriarchs.

And he who believes in the Son is of the Father - he is already at the level of eternity: he has in himself the same "Life of the Eternal" (v.36).

Whoever accepts Christ already lives in God. He is addressed to the Father; he enjoys its ineffable presence, assimilates and speaks its (unique) language.

He becomes capable of non-one-sided relationships, because he knows how to recover opposites.

Only from the fullness of the Spirit's gifts [and its participation: v.34] comes adherence to a Torah imprinted in the heart, as well as self-acknowledged obedience.

In this way, he becomes Likeness, which takes the story of the new Master as its criterion.

The unlimited fullness of the Spirit granted to Christ means and guarantees that the Revelation brought by Jesus is sufficient and full.

The unveiling of the Mystery no longer needs to be completed through cognitive processes and efforts of will.

Neither does it need a doctrinal system, nor a code of conduct to act as guarantor, as in religions.

The truth of Christ illustrates the Faithfulness of the Father, whose Love is not subject to conditions-typed conditions (which would liquidate it).

The object and end of Revelation is no dogmatic 'truth'.

The Person of the Lord introduces us into a process, into a journey that becomes a means to know and transmit it - a means that is not the end.

We could say: not the Son resembles the Father, but the Father resembles the One who reveals Him.

In short, in Jesus-Logos we are invited to put all half-measures and ancient preconceptions about God in brackets.

It is the decision or non-decision for Christ, his 'Judgement' - which does not punish.

It takes us on the wondrous journey of Faith, which accompanies, dominates the natural devotional level and becomes the... experience of being saved.

Keeping the precepts of the Pentateuch brought "long days and years of life and much peace" (Pr 3:1-2).

From the fulfilments of the Law and oral tradition an expected [normal] fulfilment was assumed.

Salvation, on the other hand, does not come from origins, from 'territory' (v.31) - culture and ethnicity.

Nor does redemption proceed from the outcome of a verification of ancient teaching.

The complete realisation seizes us - rather - from believing in the Son (v.36): absolute birth [always renewed] imparted by the Spirit who does not hinder.

Spirit of divine configuration, communicated precisely "not with measure".

Ancient religions promise 'eternal life' - in some cases, almost a consolation prize after the labours of this vale of tears.

Alienation that breaks wings, produces alibis, and makes one external, already registered and predictable.

Instead, the "Life of the Eternal" (v.36), the very and intimate Life of God, is a condition that inhabits, bursts into our paths.

It does so with eccentric, unprecedented inclinations; previously inconceivable - where we are ourselves, not reduced creatures.

It can be experienced in the concrete, even excessive, ways of being that correspond to an unveiling, a 'revelation' within us.

Especially in the Fourth Gospel, the dimension of the Eternal is a protruding measure, but embodied and in action. Not by natural virtue, but by openness to Totality.

By the action of the Spirit, which ceaselessly creates and regenerates - and weaves a radical understanding into being.

It is not we who produce the Love that fills and activates, or that can restore us to life without restriction.

But the dimension of Sons who from Baptism know and recognise themselves in the Fullness, concerns us.

Then - as in Jesus the Son - everything is placed in our hands (v.35).

To internalise and live the message:

What vocational excess have you left undone?

What experience of wholeness given, received and recognised have you had?

If Christ is one of many realities, what reigns in you? When God has primacy, what changes?

The novelty of biblical faith

9. There is first of all the new image of God. In the cultures surrounding the world of the Bible, the image of God and the gods ultimately remains unclear and contradictory in itself. Instead, in the course of biblical faith, what Israel's fundamental prayer, the Shema, summarises in the words: 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one' (Deut 6:4) becomes clearer and clearer. There is only one God, who is the Creator of heaven and earth and therefore also the God of all men. Two facts in this clarification are singular: that truly all other gods are not God and that all reality in which we live goes back to God, is created by Him. Certainly, the idea of a creation also exists elsewhere, but only here is it absolutely clear that not just any god, but the one true God, Himself, is the author of the whole of reality; it comes from the power of His creative Word. This means that this creature of His is dear to Him, because it was willed by Him, "made" by Him. And so the second important element now appears: this God loves man. The divine power that Aristotle, at the pinnacle of Greek philosophy, sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being the object of desire and love - as a beloved reality this divinity moves the world - but it itself needs nothing and loves nothing, only is loved. The one God in whom Israel believes, however, loves personally. His love, moreover, is an elective love: of all peoples He chooses Israel and loves it - with the aim, however, of healing the whole of humanity in precisely this way. He loves, and this love of His can undoubtedly be described as eros, which however is also and totally agape.

Especially the prophets Hosea and Ezekiel described this passion of God for his people with bold erotic imagery. God's relationship with Israel is illustrated through the metaphors of betrothal and marriage; consequently, idolatry is adultery and prostitution. This hints concretely - as we have seen - at the fertility cults with their abuse of eros, but at the same time it also describes the relationship of faithfulness between Israel and its God. God's love story with Israel consists, in depth, in the fact that He gives the Torah, that is, He opens Israel's eyes to the true nature of man and shows it the way to true humanism. It consists in the fact that man, living in faithfulness to the one God, experiences himself as one who is loved by God and discovers joy in truth, in righteousness - joy in God that becomes his essential happiness: 'Who else shall I have for myself in heaven? Outside of you I covet nothing on earth.... My good is to be close to God" (Ps 73 [72], 25. 28).

[Pope Benedict, Deus Caritas est]

9. First, the world of the Bible presents us with a new image of God. In surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately remained unclear and contradictory. In the development of biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Shema, became increasingly clear and unequivocal: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all. Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and “made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves man. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being an object of desire and of love —and as the object of love this divinity moves the world[6]—but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love: it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.[7]

The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion for his people using boldly erotic images. God's relationship with Israel is described using the metaphors of betrothal and marriage; idolatry is thus adultery and prostitution. Here we find a specific reference—as we have seen—to the fertility cults and their abuse of eros, but also a description of the relationship of fidelity between Israel and her God. The history of the love-relationship between God and Israel consists, at the deepest level, in the fact that he gives her the Torah, thereby opening Israel's eyes to man's true nature and showing her the path leading to true humanism. It consists in the fact that man, through a life of fidelity to the one God, comes to experience himself as loved by God, and discovers joy in truth and in righteousness—a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness: “Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you ... for me it is good to be near God” (Ps 73 [72]:25, 28).

[Pope Benedict, Deus Caritas est]

1. Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is sent by the Father into the world, becomes man by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, and by virtue of the Holy Spirit fulfils as a man his messianic mission up to the cross and resurrection.

With reference to this truth (which was the subject of the previous catechesis), it is worth recalling the text of St Irenaeus who writes: "The Holy Spirit descended upon the Son of God, who became the Son of man, dwelling with him in the human race, resting in men, the works of God, doing the Father's will in them and transforming their old age into the newness of Christ" (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, III, 17, 1).

This is a very significant passage that repeats in other words what we have learnt from the New Testament, namely that the Son of God became man by the power of the Holy Spirit and in His power carried out the messianic mission, thus preparing for the sending and descent into human souls of this Spirit, who "searches the depths of God" (cf. 1 Cor 2:10), to renew and consolidate His presence and sanctifying action in human life. It is interesting that expression of Irenaeus, according to whom the Holy Spirit, working in the Son of man, "dwelt with him in the human race".

2. In the Gospel of John we read that "on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out with a loud voice: 'Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink; whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from his bosom. This he said referring to the Spirit that believers would receive in him; for there was not yet the Spirit, because Jesus had not yet been glorified" (Jn 7:37-39). Jesus announces the coming of the Holy Spirit using the metaphor of "living water", because it is "the Spirit who gives life . . ." (Jn 6:63). The disciples will receive this Spirit from Jesus himself at the appropriate time, when Jesus will be "glorified": the Evangelist has in mind the Easter glorification through the cross and resurrection.

3. When that time - that is, the "hour" of Jesus - is near, during the discourse in the Upper Room, Christ resumes his proclamation, and several times promises the apostles the coming of the Holy Spirit as the new Comforter (Paraclete).

He says to them: "I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter to abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he dwells with you and will be in you" (Jn 14:16-17). "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (Jn 14:26). And further on: "When the Comforter comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me...". (Jn 15:26).

Jesus thus concludes: "If I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; but when I have gone, I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will convince the world of sin and righteousness and judgment . . ." (Jn 16, 7-8).

4. Densely contained in these texts is the revelation of the truth about the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son (I have dealt with this subject at length in the encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem). In summary, speaking to the apostles in the cenacle on the eve of his passion, Jesus links his approaching departure with the coming of the Holy Spirit. For Jesus it is a causal relationship: he must leave through the cross and resurrection, so that the Spirit of truth can descend upon the apostles and the entire Church as the Comforter. Then the Father will send the Spirit "in the name of the Son" will send him in the power of the mystery of redemption, which is to be accomplished through this Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore it is right to affirm, as Jesus does, that the Son himself will also send him: "the Comforter whom I will send to you from the Father" (Jn 15:26).

5. This promise made to the apostles on the eve of his passion and death, Jesus fulfilled on the very day of his resurrection. In fact, the Gospel of John narrates that, having presented himself to the disciples still in hiding in the cenacle, Jesus greeted them and while they were stunned by the extraordinary event, "he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; and whomsoever sins you forgive, they shall be forgiven, and whomsoever sins you do not forgive, they shall remain unforgiven'" (John 20: 22-23).

In John's text there is a theological underlining that is well worth highlighting: the Risen Christ is the one who presents Himself to the apostles and "brings" the Holy Spirit to them, the one who in a certain sense "gives" Him to them in the signs of His death on the cross ("He showed them His hands and His side" (Jn 20:20)). And being "the Spirit who gives life" (Jn 6:63), the apostles receive together with the Holy Spirit the ability and power to forgive sins.

6. What happens in such a significant way on the very day of the resurrection, the other evangelists somehow extend into the following days, in which Jesus continues to prepare the apostles for the great moment, when by virtue of his departure the Holy Spirit will descend upon them in a definitive manner, so that his coming will become manifest to the world. It will also be the moment of the birth of the Church: "You will receive power from the Holy Spirit who will come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). This promise, which directly concerns the coming of the Paraclete, was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.

7. In summary we can say that Jesus Christ is the one who comes from the Father as the eternal Son, he is the one who "came forth" from the Father by becoming man through the power of the Holy Spirit. And after fulfilling his messianic mission as the Son of Man by virtue of the Holy Spirit he "goes to the Father" (cf. Jn 14:12). By going there as the Redeemer of the world, he 'gives' to his disciples and sends upon the Church for all time, the same Spirit, in whose power he acted as man. In this way Jesus Christ, as the one who "goes to the Father", through the Holy Spirit leads "to the Father" all those who will follow him throughout the ages.

8. "Raised therefore to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the Holy Spirit whom he had promised, (Jesus Christ) poured out the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:33), said the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. "And that you are sons is proved by the fact that God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son who cries out, Abba, Father!" (Gal 4:6), wrote the Apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit, who "comes from the Father" (cf. Jn 15:26), is at the same time the Spirit of Jesus Christ: the Spirit of the Son.

9. God gave Christ the Holy Spirit "without measure", proclaims John the Baptist, according to the Fourth Gospel. And St Thomas Aquinas explains in his limpid commentary that the prophets received the Spirit "with measure", and therefore "partially" prophesied. Christ, on the other hand, has the Holy Spirit "without measure": both as God, insofar as the Father, through eternal generation, gives him to breathe the Spirit indefinitely; and as man, insofar as, through the fullness of grace, God has filled him with the Holy Spirit, so that he may pour it out in every believer (St Thomas, Super Evang. S. Ioannis Lectura, c. III, 1. 6, n. 541-544). The Angelic Doctor refers to the head of John (Jn 3:34): "For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God who gives (to him) the Spirit without measure" (according to the translation proposed by distinguished biblical scholars).

Truly we can exclaim with intimate emotion, together with the evangelist John: "From his fullness we have all received" (John 1: 16); truly we have become partakers of the life of God in the Holy Spirit.

And over this world of children of the first Adam, destined for death, we see Christ, the "last Adam", standing mightily, who has become the "life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor 15:45).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 12 August 1987]

God cannot be an object of negotiation. And faith does not envisage the possibility of being "lukewarm", "neither bad nor good", trying with "a double life" to reach a compromise for "a status vivendi" with the world. Pope Francis said this in his homily at Mass, celebrated on the morning of Thursday, 11 April, in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae [...].

In the readings, the Pope explained in his homily, "the word 'obey' appears three times. The first time, when Peter replies "one must obey God instead of men"" before the Sanhedrin, as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles (5:27-33).

What does it mean,' the Pontiff asked himself, 'to obey God? Does this mean that we are to be like slaves, all tied up? No, because the very one who obeys God is free, not a slave! And how do you do this? I obey, I do not do my will and I am free? It sounds like a contradiction. And this is not a contradiction'. In fact, obey comes from the Latin, and means to listen, to hear the other. To obey God is to listen to God, to have an open heart to go on the path that God shows us. Obedience to God is listening to God. And this makes us free'.

Precisely commenting on the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, the Pontiff recalled that Peter "in front of these scribes, priests, even the high priest, the Pharisees", was called to "make a decision". Peter "heard what the Pharisees and the priests were saying, and he heard what Jesus was saying in his heart: 'what do I do?' He says: "I do what Jesus tells me, not what you want me to do". And he went on like this".

"In our lives," Pope Francis said, "we also hear proposals that do not come from Jesus, that do not come from God. You understand, our weaknesses sometimes lead us down that road. Or the other one that is more dangerous still: let's make a deal, a little of God and a little of you. Let's make an agreement and so we go through life with a double life: a little bit of the life of what we hear Jesus telling us, and a little bit of the life of what we hear the world, the powers of the world, and so on'. But it is a system that 'does not go'. In fact, "in the book of Revelation, the Lord says: this does not go, because then you are neither bad nor good: you are lukewarm. I condemn you'.

The Pontiff warned against this very temptation. "If Peter had said to these priests, 'let us speak as friends and establish a status vivendi', perhaps it would have gone well". But it would not be a choice proper to 'the love that comes when we hear Jesus'. A choice that brings consequences. "What happens," the Holy Father continued, "when we hear Jesus? Sometimes those who make the other proposal become furious and the road ends in persecution. Right now, I said it, we have so many sisters and brothers who in order to obey, to hear, to listen to what Jesus asks of them are under persecution. Let us always remember these brothers and sisters who put meat on the fire and tell us with their lives: 'I want to obey, to go the way Jesus tells me'".

With today's liturgy "the Church invites us" to "go the way of Jesus" and "not to hear those proposals that the world makes to us, those proposals of sin or those so-and-so, half-and-half proposals": it is, he reiterated, a way of life that "does not go" and "will not make us happy".

In this choice of obedience to God and not to the world, without giving in to compromise, the Christian is not alone. "Where do we have - the Pope wondered - the help to go on the way of hearing Jesus? In the Holy Spirit. Of these things we are witnesses: it is the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who obey him". Therefore, he said, 'it is the Holy Spirit within us that gives us strength to go'. The Gospel of John (3:31-36), proclaimed in the celebration, with a beautiful expression assures: "For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: without measure he gives the Spirit. Our Father gives us the Spirit, without measure, to hear Jesus, to feel Jesus and to go on the way of Jesus".

Pope Francis concluded his homily with an invitation to be courageous in the different situations of life. "We ask for the grace of courage. We will always have sins: we are all sinners'. But we need "the courage to say: 'Lord, I am a sinner, sometimes I obey worldly things but I want to obey you, I want to go your way'. Let us ask for this grace, to always go the way of Jesus, and when we do not, to ask for forgiveness: the Lord forgives us, because He is so good."

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 12/04/2013]

2nd Easter Sunday or Divine Mercy Sunday  [12 April 2026]

*First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:42–47)

Here is a glimpse of the very first Christian community, as Saint Luke loves to portray it in the Acts of the Apostles. On several occasions—four, in fact—he sketches, in just a few lines, a portrait of this kind; one might almost call them candid family snapshots. Taken together, these scenes paint a picture that seems almost idyllic of the lives of the early Christians: devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to prayer, they live in praise of the Lord and share everything in common, performing numerous healings along their path and continually welcoming new members… This does not prevent Luke from recounting, elsewhere, some very real difficulties faced by these same communities… Ananias and Sapphira, for example, who struggled to live out the sharing of goods to the full; and, even more seriously, the difficulties of coexistence between Christians of Jewish origin and Christians of pagan origin… One might then ask what message Luke wishes to convey to us by painting such beautiful, almost unreal portraits. This brings to mind the family photos from festive occasions that adorn the walls of our homes, the photo albums or the collages we love to look at. Clearly, the best images have been chosen; looking at them, we become aware of the beauty of our families and the joy of certain special days. For Saint Luke, this is certainly the case, but it is also much more: it is proof that the messianic times have arrived. The apostles became capable of living as brothers thanks to the gift of the Spirit. And this is all that the Spirit enables us to do: he who continues his work in the world and brings every sanctification to fulfilment (according to the splendid expression of the Eucharistic Prayer). This is the sign of the Spirit poured out upon the world by the Messiah: it is precisely what the prophets had promised. Brotherhood, peace, justice, and the abolition of evil are the values of the Kingdom of God that the Messiah was to establish, and of which the early Christians repeatedly set an example. This is the proof that Jesus is truly the long-awaited Messiah, the proof that he has poured out the Spirit of God upon the world. Then we understand the expression: “A sense of awe came over everyone”: it is wonder at the work of God. Luke tells us: see, my brothers and sisters, the first signs of the Kingdom are already here; this is what the Holy Spirit enables us to experience in our families, in our parishes and in our communities when we allow ourselves to be guided by him in the light of Easter. From Christ’s Resurrection a new humanity was born, one that grows slowly around and in the image of the Son of God. St Paul would say: look, we have truly risen! That is to say: we are truly living a new life; the old man (our former way of behaving) is dead. Luke, a converted pagan, marvels at the irresistible spread of the Gospel: ‘Every day the Lord added to the community those who were being saved.’ I note, in passing, that it is the Lord who brings new members into the community! What is asked of us? Perhaps, quite simply, to be true Christian communities, worthy of the name. For it is through its very concrete life that the community bears witness to the Resurrection of Christ: a life made up of sharing the Word and the bread, of prayer, of sharing all goods, all in joy! It is truly a world turned upside down! In particular, personal self-emptying and the sharing of all goods: this is something unachievable for ordinary people… unless they are indwelt by the Spirit of God, the one whom Christ himself has given them. Jesus had said: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another. This is what will show the whole world that Jesus is alive; and this is what judges once and for all our quarrels and slander, our intolerance and divisions, our refusal to share. Naturally, we are not forbidden to draw from these beautiful portraits the criteria for assessing the quality of our communities (families, groups, Christian communities). It is a bit as if Luke were saying to us: let those who have ears to hear, hear! Because, after all, what we have heard is indeed a programme for Christian life; if I count correctly, there are four points: listening to the apostles’ teaching, living in fraternal communion (even to the point of sharing possessions), breaking bread and taking part in prayers. To conclude, it seems to me that the great Good News of this text is this: this new way of behaving, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is possible! Just as photos from festive occasions remind us of the possibilities for love within our families. But this may also prompt us to ask some questions: Luke notes that they were ‘persevering together’ in the temple and faithful in breaking bread in their homes with joy and simplicity of heart. Today we would say: they lived the Eucharist. This means at least three things: first of all, Sunday Mass is much more than an obligation; it is a vital necessity: the practice of the Eucharist is indispensable for each of us in the life of faith. Furthermore, and even more seriously, every time one of us does not take part in the Eucharist, it is the community itself that is deprived of one of its members. Finally, the third aspect: a community is severely disadvantaged when deprived of this regular nourishment; this clearly highlights the problem faced by so many Christian communities without a priest, sometimes for a very long time, whilst some parishes in our regions offer a wide choice of Mass times to meet all needs. We cannot help but admire the dynamism of the faith of those who know how to keep their communities alive despite the absence of a priest.

*Responsorial Psalm (117/118)  

 We have already sung this Psalm 117/118 during the Easter Vigil and on Easter Day itself. Indeed, every ordinary Sunday, it forms part of the Office of Lauds in the Liturgy of the Hours. This is hardly surprising: for the Jews, this psalm concerns the Messiah; for us Christians, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, we recognise in him the Messiah awaited throughout the Old Testament, the true King, the conqueror of death. It is therefore on this twofold level — that of Jewish expectation and Christian faith — that it must be considered. For the Jewish faith, it is a psalm of praise: indeed, it begins with the word Alleluia, which means ‘praise God’ and sets the tone for the whole; furthermore, it comprises twenty-nine verses and, throughout, the word ‘Lord’ (the tetragrammaton YHWH) or at least ‘Yah’, which is its first syllable, appears more than thirty times… and these are all expressions of praise for God’s greatness, God’s love, God’s work for his people… A veritable litany! This psalm of praise is intended to accompany a thanksgiving sacrifice during the Feast of Tabernacles, an important and joyful festival lasting eight days in autumn: we find traces of the joy of this festival in the text of the psalm itself. For example: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

During this festival, people dwell in tents for eight days, in remembrance of the tents of the Exodus after the departure from Egypt, to rediscover the meaning of the Covenant. Then there are numerous celebrations in the Temple of Jerusalem, and processions are held around the altar, waving branches and singing “Hosanna”, which means “Grant, Lord, grant salvation”; and as the expectation of the Messiah is very much alive in the spirit of this festival, the words “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” are repeated, as a sort of prayer to hasten his coming. Another significant rite was a grand and spectacular illumination of the Temple on the final evening. All these rites resonate in this psalm, provided one reads it in its entirety. For example, in other verses which we do not hear in the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Easter, it is proclaimed: ‘With branches in hand, form a procession to the altar… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”, “Say, the Lord enlightens us”, alluding to the illumination of the final evening. All this concerns words of praise, and these are the reasons: to speak of the history of Israel, the psalm recounts the story of a king who has just faced a merciless war and achieved victory. This king now comes to give thanks to his God for having sustained him. He says, for example: “They pushed me hard to make me fall, but the Lord helped me… and again, all the nations surrounded me: in the name of the Lord I defeated them… and again: I shall not die, I shall live and proclaim the works of the Lord”.  The speaker is therefore a king who has miraculously escaped all the attacks of hostile peoples; but in reality we know what to read between the lines: it is the story of the people of Israel. Many times, throughout its history, it has come close to annihilation; but each time the Lord has raised it up, and it celebrates this in the great Feast of Tabernacles: it sings “I shall not die, I shall live and proclaim the works of the Lord”. This role as a witness to the works of the Lord is Israel’s very vocation; and it is in the very awareness of this vocation that it has found the strength to survive all its trials throughout history. For us Christians, this psalm evokes a connection between the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which we commemorate on Palm Sunday. But above all, the joy that runs through this psalm is fitting for the Risen One on Easter morning! He is that victorious king and, on closer inspection, the evangelists, each in their own way, present him to us as the true king. Matthew, for example, constructed the episode of the Magi’s visit in such a way as to make us understand that the true king is not the one indicated by historians (Herod), but the child of Bethlehem… or John, who, in the account of the Passion, clearly presents Jesus as the true King of the Jews. Meditating on the mystery of this Messiah—rejected, despised, crucified—the apostles discovered a new meaning in this psalm: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’.  Jesus had already quoted it in the parable of the murderous vineyard tenants, showing that he is the cornerstone, rejected by the builders and become the foundation stone; that is, rejected by his own people, he became the foundation stone of the new Israel. He is truly ‘the one who comes in the name of the Lord’, as the psalm says: this very expression was used during his solemn entry into Jerusalem. Finally, we know that this psalm was sung in Jerusalem on the occasion of a thanksgiving sacrifice. Jesus, however, has just performed the sacrifice of thanksgiving par excellence! He takes the lead of the new Israel, which gives thanks to God his Father: and it is precisely this that characterises Jesus. His entire attitude towards the Father is one of thanksgiving, thus inaugurating the New Covenant between God and humanity: the one in which humanity is nothing other than a response of love to the Father’s love.

*Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (1:3–9)          

 Some wonder whether Peter might have drawn here on a hymn sung during baptisms… We have no proof of this, but it is nonetheless an interesting hypothesis that may help us to understand this text better. Three stanzas are easily discernible, of which I offer a brief summary: First stanza (vv. 3, 4, 5): “Blessed be God…”. He has brought us to new life through the Resurrection of Christ, and now we live in faith and hope; as a well-known hymn says: God makes us, in Jesus Christ, free people. Second stanza (vv. 6 and 7): hope already makes us leap for joy, but we are still in the time of the testing of our faith. Third stanza (vv. 8 and 9): blessed are those who believe without having seen; our faith already gives us an inexpressible joy that transfigures us. The word ‘faith’ appears five times in these few lines. This is not surprising, given that we are in a baptismal celebration; and there is also an extraordinary joy, which he describes as inexpressible, despite the present trials (even though you must now be grieved for a little while by various trials, v. 6): here he is clearly addressing Christian communities living in a hostile world, probably persecuted, and this seems precisely to be the case for Peter’s audience. For convenience, I shall now take up the three verses one by one: “Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”: the form is Jewish, the content is Christian; beginning with a great blessing of God is typical of Jewish prayer; and it is certainly someone who has sung the psalms a great deal who is able to write such a text! But the content is Christian: in the Psalms, God is celebrated as the God of the Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… by now Revelation has taken a decisive step: God is known as the Father of Jesus Christ, and it is through Jesus Christ that he fulfils his plan for humanity. “God has brought us to new life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ”: just as Jesus himself did in his conversation with Nicodemus, Peter speaks of baptism as a new birth, and this new birth has its source in the Resurrection of Christ; today, after well over two thousand years of Christianity, we are so accustomed to the phrase “Jesus Christ is risen” that perhaps we no longer feel its shock; but the early Christians experienced it as a true revolution: by now, for them, the face of the world had changed; as Paul says, the old world has passed away, a new one has been born (2 Cor 5).

Another theme typical of Paul is also very prominent in Peter: the tension between the present and the future: everything is already accomplished in the resurrection of Christ and so he speaks in the past tense: God has made us born again… everything is already decided, so to speak; yet everything remains yet to come: we are reaching out towards the salvation ready to be revealed in the last days, as Peter says. The word ‘salvation’ could be translated as life… which knows neither corruption, nor stain, nor decay; it could also be translated as liberation from all that is indeed corruption, stain, and decay. A salvation, a liberation already accomplished in Jesus Christ, but into which all humanity has not yet entered: and this is what remains to come.

It is the fact that everything is already accomplished from this moment that makes us leap for joy, as Peter says; the days when we are sad are perhaps those in which we lose sight of this great news of Easter: the good news that love and life are stronger than all hatred and death, even if in certain situations this certainty tends to fade and our faith is then put to the test! And the second verse puts it well: ‘You are being tested for a little while by various trials,’ says Peter. The rest of the letter gives a glimpse of the difficulties in question, probably the hostility encountered by these young Christians who appear marginalised in a pagan world.

The final verse takes up this theme of faith during the time of waiting; Peter had the privilege of knowing and spending a long time with Jesus Christ, but he addresses Christians who did not know him and explains to them the blessedness that Jesus had spoken of to Thomas: ‘Blessed are those who believe without having seen’, and he encourages them: You love him without having seen him; and without seeing him yet, you believe in him… and you rejoice with an ‘inexpressible and glorious’ joy. When he uses the expression ‘glorious joy’, Peter knows what he is talking about, he who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration of Jesus: and on the faces of Christians he sees a reflection of the light that radiated from Jesus himself. Peter’s emphasis on the joy of Christians—a joy that is at once inexpressible and stronger than all passing trials—resonates today as a call to ensure that everyone can see the joy of our baptism on our faces, as a reflection of the transfigured Jesus. Traditionally, this Sunday was called ‘in albis’, meaning ‘in white garments’. Indeed, those newly baptised on Easter night wore their baptismal garments throughout the Easter week. And this Sunday represented for them a kind of feast of the baptised.

*From the Gospel according to John (20:19–31)

 It was after Jesus’ death, on the evening of the first day of the week, that is, Sunday. This is not merely a temporal detail that Saint John offers us, but rather a small yet significant sign. When John wrote his Gospel, some fifty years had already passed since the events—that is, since the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Fifty years during which Christians gathered every Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus; and so the message he wishes to convey is: ‘Do you understand, then, why we gather every Sunday?’ The gathering of Christians every Sunday was a characteristic of Christians within the Jewish world, and it was precisely to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. For the Jews, the first day of the week – Sunday – was a working day like any other, whilst the seventh day, the Sabbath (Shabbat), was a day of celebration, rest, assembly and prayer. Now, it was the day after the Shabbat that Jesus rose from the dead, and on several occasions he appeared alive to his apostles after the resurrection, always on the first day of the week: thus, for Christians, that day took on a special significance. This first day of the week appears as the first day of the new era: just as the Jews’ seven-day week recalled the seven days of Creation, so this new week, which began with Christ’s resurrection, was understood by Christians as the beginning of the new Creation. The disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were, out of fear of the Jews, when Jesus came and stood among them. John emphasises that the disciples are shut inside and afraid because, having killed the Master, they might well kill his disciples too. Yet this too highlights Christ’s freedom. Everything is locked up, but for him it is no problem: he has no need of bolts and, above all, he knows no fear! And, precisely for this reason, his first words are: ‘Peace be with you’! It was the customary Jewish greeting… yet it is still a surprising greeting after all that has happened! The fear, the anguish of the last few months before Jesus’ arrest, the horror of his passion and death, Thursday night, Friday, and that silence of the Sabbath, after Jesus had been laid in the tomb… Is it possible to be at peace as if nothing had happened? Yet, it is incredible but true: he is truly alive… and, to prove it, he shows his wounds, the permanent marks of the crucifixion. In this regard, it is specifically noted that the marks are still present in his hands, feet and side: the Resurrection does not erase our death. So, even though it may seem incredible, Saint John notes that the disciples rejoiced. What they are experiencing is unheard of! And, at this point, John continues: “Jesus said to them again: ‘Peace be with you’”. Now they can truly be at peace… not as if nothing had happened, but in spite of what has happened: because this peace of the Risen One goes far beyond anything that might happen. “Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you retain are retained.’ The link between the gift of the Spirit and the mission of reconciliation is striking: in the Bible, the Spirit is always given for a mission. But ultimately, can there be any mission more important than reconciling people with God? Everything else flows from this. It is a command that Jesus gives: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Go and proclaim that sins are remitted, that is, forgiven. Be ambassadors of universal reconciliation. And if you do not go, the Good News, the gospel of Reconciliation, will not be proclaimed. Jesus says: “As the Father has sent me…”: from the very mouth of Jesus Christ, we have a summary of his entire mission, for it is as if he were saying: The Father has sent me to proclaim universal reconciliation, to proclaim that sins are forgiven, and that God does not keep a record of people’s sins; in other words, I have come to proclaim one thing alone: that God is all Love and Forgiveness. In turn, I send you on the same mission. Therefore, we must pay close attention: the only true sin, which is at the root of all others, is not to believe in or to reject God’s love: I therefore send you so that you may proclaim to all people God’s infinite love, that is, that God is infinite Mercy. But how can we make God’s love known? It is not enough to proclaim God’s mercy; one must ‘give one’s life’ for the ‘salvation’ of souls. When will we understand that this is the whole Gospel and how great our responsibility is? 

NB Please note: We must fully understand the phrase: ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you do not forgive are not forgiven’. I have been drawn into a structural and theological analysis which I share with you.  

Full Greek text with transliteration ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς· (an tinōn aphēte tas hamartias, apheōntai autois) ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται. (an tinōn kratēte, kekratēntai) Fluid translation of the verse: “Whose sins you forgive, they are already forgiven; whose sins you retain, they remain retained.”  The sentence is constructed in two parallel movements: ἀφῆτε (you forgive),  ἀφέωνται (they are already forgiven by God); κρατῆτε (you retain), κεκράτηνται (they are already retained)  Immediate emergence: visible action and divine reality.  Verbs of the apostles: ἀφῆτε / κρατῆτε  which are aorist subjunctive and signify: a precise and decisive act, a real event. b) The final verbs ἀφέωνται / κεκράτηνται are in the passive perfect tense and mean: an action already accomplished and already established by God, a lasting effect. Why does John use the aorist? He does not use the present tense because it does not indicate a continuous action, but the aorist, which means: “ At the moment you forgive or retain sins, a real and decisive act takes place” and the act of the apostles enters into God’s permanent, effective action. Theological consequences: Primacy of God: only God forgives. Role of the Church: to make visible, to apply forgiveness concretely, and sin is either removed or remains. Spiritual insight: Forgiveness is a real event, not a symbol, and the Church is a visible instrument, but the efficacy comes from God. Final summary: When the Church remits sins, a real and decisive act takes place in which the forgiveness that is already at work in God is manifested and made present; when she withholds them, it is evident that, unfortunately, that forgiveness has not been accepted. And here lies the problem: why is it not accepted? Forgiveness is neither an idea nor a process: it is an event of God, and the Church makes it visible. God always forgives us, and we are forgiven when we confess our sin with faith. God is infinite Mercy that never fails and desires that all may be saved; but it is necessary for man to welcome His gratuitous love into his heart. The Church is called to make this forgiveness visible every day, without ceasing, and every Christian is called to bear witness to and proclaim the forgiveness that is God’s absolutely gratuitous love, so that all may believe, welcome it and experience it in their own lives. In short: God forgives endlessly, and those who believe proclaim it and live it as the Gospel that enters their very being. I conclude with this message from Medjugorje, 2 March 1997: “Dear children! Pray for your brothers and sisters who have not come to know the love of God the Father, and for those for whom life on earth is more important. Open your hearts to them and see in them my Son who loves them. You must be my light: enlighten all souls in whom darkness reigns. Thank you for responding to my call.”

It depends on you, says Jesus to the apostles and today to us, that your brothers and sisters may come to know and experience God’s love and live in his mercy. God’s plan will be fully accomplished only when you, in turn, have completed your mission. In short, understand well: just as the Father sent me, so I send you. And you do not have much time to lose

+Giovanni D’Ercole

Genesis Rebirth Judgment

(Jn 3:16-21)

Every man confronted with the Mystery does not fully comprehend what he feels until he accepts the bet and is introduced into a new existence.

The old life presents only bills to be paid, which always resurface; conversely, the new Calling supplants judgment’s categories and the normalized choices.

We pass as if through an emptying of the heart, which in its cosmic and personal virtue acquires a generative sense.

Life in the Spirit proceeds by new Births, blowing where it will. Not according to a progress marked by mechanisms, but in a disconcerting manner.

Reality present and operative, albeit inexplicable - but enriching, letting us to penetrate [or that plunge us to force] into another configuration.

‘Another’ kingdom, which in the «Son of man» unites the two worlds.

Eternity’s Level that immerses those who welcome it into the unique relationship with the Father and his exuberant Life.

«’From there’ He will come to judge» is an article of the Apostles’ Creed, in some Latin traditions:

Success or failure in life will be evaluated "from the Cross", i.e. with the criterion of the new ‘perception’, Gift of self, and Renewal to the core.

Reversal of perspectives; visual overthrow.

Hope’ Source and a new leap forward: where humiliation is transformed into authentic Birth and triumph of the indestructible Life.

This the Bliss that discovers hidden treasures and precious pearls behind our dark sides.

Here even the persecutions of enemies and mockers become vectors that introduce different energies; they force us to improve track.

And it was imagined that divine life only belonged to the celestial sphere - instead it paradoxically comes within our reach.

Nicodemus knew: in the desert many had fallen victim to snares. But Jesus makes it clear that the Israelites had not been gratuitously healed by a bronze effigy, but by ‘lifting up their eyes’.

The Secret is «from on High» (v.7), off the scale.

The Lord refers to this episode and interprets it as the setting for his own teaching; a symbol of his extreme event.

It is for a new Genesis of one's own being and of the criteria for which one's life is at stake, that the Crucified One becomes the reference point for each of our choices.

Those who contemplate Him already have within themselves the full, acute and total meaning of the Scriptures, and the very Life of the Eternal.

In rabbinic style, Mt 25 uses the image of the Last Judgment to recall the importance and consequences of the choices we make.

Jn speaks of a Judgment that takes place in the Present, which is ‘only redemption’ on our exclusive favor: for a life as saved persons.

According to a Wisdom that gives rise to and makes us hear quite a few unexpected opinions.

Thus, while employing different backgrounds and language, both Mt and Jn find themselves in the same «truth» (v.21). Judgment is pronounced from the Cross.

Discrepancies are as of now commensurate on the Person of the Son. The Judgment has already begun.

[Wednesday 2nd wk. in Easter, April 15, 2026]

Genesis Rebirth Judgment

Jn 3:16-21(7-21)

Every man confronted with the Mystery does not fully comprehend what he feels, until he accepts the wager and enters into a new existence.

The old life presents only bills to be paid, which always resurface; conversely, the new Calling supplants normalised categories of judgement and choices.

One passes as through an emptying of the heart.

For the Tao [Way] Tê Ching (xxi) says:

"The contentment of those who have the virtue of emptiness, only to the Tao does it conform. For creatures, the Tao is indistinct and indeterminate [...] in its bosom it holds images [...] in its bosom it holds archetypes [...] in its bosom it holds the essence of being! This essence is very genuine [...] and so it consents to all beginnings.

Outside the cosmic and personal Way, man's existence has no generative meaning.

Even the spiritual affair of the experienced and well-adjusted person stagnates until he can no longer silence the great questions of meaning, his fiction, or sloth.

Life in the Spirit proceeds by new Births and breathes forth where it will.

Not according to a progress marked by mechanisms, manners, respectability, skills, or instruction booklets: in a disconcerting way - but it brings different refreshment, and even sudden peace.

It is a reality present and operative, albeit inexplicable - yet enriching, allowing us to penetrate or plunge into another configuration of reality.

Another realm, which in the 'Son of Man' unites the two worlds.

Nicodemus was master of the Old Testament alone. He would check any stagnation or progress by comparing them to the wisdom of the things of God on a more than familiar basis.

But not infrequently our growth proceeds in leaps and bounds - not even according to natural 'intelligence'. Let alone the spiritual life.

It is not enough to practise and go along with the ideas of the fathers or the fashionable ones, nor to remain in agreement with normal intentions.

Assimilating other people's knowledge and acquiring already expected expertise is not infrequently junk that blocks true developments - those that belong to us.

Unfortunately, in religious life one often proceeds mechanically, and there seems to be no need to allow oneself to be saved or surprised by events.

At most we are exposed to a few breezes, enslaved to earthly languages, limited to the dimension of "phenomena" that are all on the surface - that exclude and dismiss Christ.

In the bewildering adventure of Faith, the divine Project and the radical Work of the Son do not unfold in a reasonable manner, but by Love without measure.

It is the level of Eternity that puts those who receive it into the unique tu-per-tu with the Father and his exuberant Life.

The Spirit's unit of measure is different from that of the agreed customs. Its impetus is elusive Wind, "visible" only in its ecclesial and personal effects.

The Secret is "from above" (v.7), out of scale. It lurks in the unpredictability of crossroads, surpluses, and new creations.

Bliss does not proceed by arguments to boredom: it protrudes or pales.

In this way, one can often hold the Eucharist or the Scriptures in one's hand and not realise that the road already taken can only give illusions of spiritual doctoring.

"Thence shall he come to judge" is an article of the Apostles' Creed.

Success or failure in life will be evaluated "from the Cross", i.e. with the criterion of the new perception, Gift of self and Renewal to the core.

Reversal of perspectives; reversal of views.

It is a source of Hope and a new leap forward: where humiliation is transformed into authentic Birth and triumph of indestructible Life.

This is the Beatitude that uncovers blooms, hidden treasures and precious pearls, behind our dark sides.

Here even the persecutions of enemies and mockers become vectors that introduce different energies, compelling us to improve.

And one imagined that divine life only belonged to the celestial sphere; instead it paradoxically comes within our reach.

Nicodemus knew: in the wilderness many had fallen victim to snares, but Jesus makes it clear that the Israelites had not been gratuitously healed by a bronze effigy, but by having 'raised their eyes'.

The Lord refers to this episode and interprets it as the setting for his own teaching; the symbol of his extreme event.

Those who contemplate it already have within themselves the full, acute and total sense of the Scriptures, and the very Life of the Eternal.

In this sense, it is necessary to be "born from above", to shift contemplative perception, to recognise ourselves, and to keep our eyes on true love.

It is because of a new Genesis of our own being and of the criteria by which we stake our lives, that the Crucified One becomes the reference point for all our choices.

Not out of sorrowful masochism and feigned consolation. Not to use it as a jewel.

Not an amulet; not an emblem placed by force upon the heights, which would indicate the conquest of territories.

Not even the sacralisation of an environment, or a 'cultural' figure.In rabbinic style, Mt 25 uses the image of the Last Judgement to recall the importance and consequences of the choices we make.

In Jn, the theme of the Judgement seems reversed: it is as if we were the ones "judging" God - in the sense that in his presence we are and will be disarmed, recognising that his Heart is far greater than our own.

So too in the experience of the life of Faith, which attracts and opens up the impossible future.

Indeed, the Fourth Gospel excludes the Father judging the sons. Jn speaks of a Judgment that takes place in the Present, which is only redemption - for our sake alone: for a life of the saved.

"When" God acts he creates. He justifies: he does something new, global, unparalleled.

It does not repeat. It gives birth to other excesses, in varied grooves, in the fabric of history, "imposing" just positions - first of all where there is no justice.

According to a Wisdom that gives rise to quite a few unexpected opinions.

While employing different backgrounds and language, both Mt and Jn find themselves in the same "truth" (v.21).

The Judgement is pronounced from the Cross - according to criteria that differ from worldly criteria, which are always hasty or mannered (and trivial).

The Lord makes his opinions heard and seen, in the face of all events and choices - warning against the options of authentic death.

The work of those who mismanage and waste life "shall burn, and he shall be punished; yet he shall be saved, but as by fire" (1 Cor 3:15).

The dissimilarities are already commensurate with the Person of the Son. The Judgment has already begun.

To internalise and live the message:

What do you consider to have been your births? What about your genuine choices?

Are you still in the direction of the wind of the ancient fathers or the fashions around you?

Do you unfurl your sails according to the direction of the Wind of the Spirit, which throws up your securities, even group or denominational ones?

What do you admire, and what have you placed 'high' in your life? Is this straw already finished and burnt?

What has so far exalted you, and did you think could elevate you instead?

He so loved, and gave

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16). Here is the heart of the Gospel, here is the foundation of our joy. For the content of the Gospel is not an idea or a doctrine, but is Jesus, the Son whom the Father gave us that we might have life. Jesus is the foundation of our joy: it is not a beautiful theory on how to be happy, but it is experiencing being accompanied and loved on life's journey. "He so loved the world that he gave his Son". Let us dwell, brothers and sisters, for a moment on these two aspects: "he so loved" and "he gave".

First of all, God so loved. These words, which Jesus addresses to Nicodemus - an old Jew who wanted to know the Master - help us to see the true face of God. He has always looked upon us with love, and out of love He came among us in the flesh of His Son. In Him He came to seek us in the places where we went astray; in Him He came to lift us up from our falls; in Him He wept our tears and healed our wounds; in Him He blessed our lives forever. Whoever believes in Him, says the Gospel, is not lost (ibid.). In Jesus, God has spoken the final word over our lives: you are not lost, you are loved. Always loved.

If listening to the Gospel and practising our faith does not enlarge our hearts to make us grasp the greatness of this love, and perhaps we slip into a serious, sad, closed religiosity, then it is a sign that we need to stop for a while and listen again to the proclamation of the good news: God loves you so much that he gives you his whole life. He is not a God who looks down on us indifferently from on high, but He is a Father, a loving Father who involves Himself in our history; He is not a God who rejoices in the death of the sinner, but a Father concerned that no one is lost; He is not a God who condemns, but a Father who saves us with the blessing embrace of His love.

And we come to the second word: God 'gave' his Son. Precisely because he loves us so much, God gives himself and offers us his life. He who loves always comes out of himself - do not forget this: he who loves always comes out of himself. Love always offers itself, gives itself, spends itself. The power of love is precisely this: it shatters the shell of selfishness, it breaks the banks of over-calculated human securities, it breaks down walls and overcomes fears, to make itself a gift. This is the dynamic of love: it is making a gift of oneself, giving oneself. He who loves is like that: he prefers to risk giving himself rather than atrophy by keeping to himself. That is why God comes out of himself, because 'he has loved so much'. His love is so great that it cannot help but give itself to us. When the people walking in the desert were attacked by poisonous snakes, God made Moses the bronze serpent; In Jesus, however, lifted up on the cross, He Himself came to heal us of the poison that gives death, He became sin to save us from sin. God does not love us in words: he gives us his Son so that whoever looks at him and believes in him may be saved (cf. Jn 3:14-15).

The more one loves, the more one becomes capable of giving. This is also the key to understanding our life. It is good to meet people who love each other, who love each other and share life; you can say of them as you do of God: they love each other so much that they give their lives. It is not only what we can produce or gain that counts, what counts above all is the love we know how to give.

And this is the source of joy! God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Hence the Church's invitation on this Sunday: 'Rejoice [...]. Rejoice and be glad, you who were in sorrow: be filled with the abundance of your consolation" (Entrance Antiphon; cf. Is 66:10-11). I think back to what we experienced a week ago in Iraq: a tormented people rejoiced with joy; thanks to God, to his mercy.

Sometimes we look for joy where there is none, we look for it in illusions that vanish, in dreams of our ego's greatness, in the apparent security of material things, in the worship of our image, and so many things... But the experience of life teaches us that true joy is to feel loved gratuitously, to feel accompanied, to have someone who shares our dreams and who, when we are shipwrecked, comes to rescue us and lead us to a safe harbour.

[Pope Francis, homily on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the evangelisation of the Philippines, 14 March 2021].

"God is love" (I Jn 4: 16): in this simple affirmation the Evangelist John has enclosed the revelation of the entire mystery of the Triune God. And in meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus, foretelling his passion and death on the Cross, affirms: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).

We all need to draw from the inexhaustible fountain of divine love, which is totally manifested to us in the mystery of the Cross, in order to find authentic peace with God, with ourselves and with our neighbour. Only from this spiritual source is it possible to draw the indispensable interior energy to overcome the evil and sin in the ceaseless battle that marks our earthly pilgrimage toward the heavenly homeland.

[Pope Benedict, Penitentiary Course Audience 16 March 2007]