First Reading
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
1. “The God of their fathers (sent) his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people.” Does God send messengers “early and often” now? What about to you personally? What can you do to “open your door wider” so that the messengers can get in?
2. “But they mocked the messengers of God.” Wangari Maathai was ridiculed for years for crying out against damaging forests. Because of her persistence, the Green Belt Movement, a re-forestation project in Kenya was started. Can you name some other people who have been rejected because of the messages they delivered?
Second Reading
Ephesians 2:4-10
1. In Diary of a Country Priest, the writer, George Bernanos, makes this statement: “Grace is everywhere.” Can this be true? Discuss.
2. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.” Would you define grace as God’s own life? Is it grace that makes “prophets” bring problems that need fixing (climate, racial, immigration, hunger, prisons) to our attention?
Gospel
John 3:14-21
1. “For God so love the world that he sent his only Son … ” So what is your job? Who is going to tell the world about this love? Name some ways (other than preaching) that you can do such a thing. Might you run into difficulties at times? When this happens can you remember that you are not alone and that you will always receive the grace you need?
2. Nicodemus had been searching quietly for God in his life. Jesus said to him, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have might have eternal life.” According to Pope Francis, does that hold true for us too?
God loves each one of us even when we err and distance ourselves from him. God the Father so loves the world that, to save it, gave what is most precious to him: his Only-Begotten Son, who gives his life for men, rises, returns to the Father, and together with him sends the Holy Spirit. The Trinity, therefore, is Love, altogether at the service of the world, which it wishes to save and recreate. Today, thinking of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we think of God’s love! And it would be good if we felt ourselves loved. ‘God loves me’ this is today’s sentiment.
This is the Christian life. To love, encounter God, seek God, but he seeks us first, he meets us first.
Angelus: God So Loved the World
Jun 7, 2020
