In the gospel of today’s Mass, we hear Jesus in conversation with Nicodemus revealing that “God so loves the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-21).
Think about it – all through the ages humanity has found so many ways to muck up the world. Over and over again humanity has turned away from God, allowing ungodly ways to create somewhat of an ungodly world. Yet even with all of this, God’s love for us and the world has been constant and remains. This is the great love that God has for his creation – a love that transcends our sinfulness, a love that rescues us from our waywardness, a love that will never be revoked or extinguished, a love that continues to redeem us, a love that gives us hope in times of discouragement and despair, a love that is ours for the taking.
Today we also hear Saint Paul speaking of this great love that God bestows upon us – a love that draws us back to God even when we ourselves distance ourselves from him, a love that saves us and leads us to our eternal destiny (Ephesians 2:4-10). For Saint Paul all we need to do to benefit from God’s love is to believe in this love, to accept it and embrace it, and to place our faith in Jesus – the personification and pentultimate revelation of God’s love.
Paul reminds us that God’s love is freely given, not earned. It is God’s love and mercy, not our own works, that save us. It is God’s love and mercy that inspire our good works. It is our realization of, and gratitude for, the great love that God has for us that motivates us to pay that love forward. And pay it forward we must. Paul reminds us that just as this love is freely given to us by God, we must freely give to others.
So, we continue onward this Lent, confident in the great love God has for us. We open our hearts and minds to this love and place our hope in it. We go out into the world paying God’s love forward so that all those we encounter might experience this love and realize the hope that can be found only in God.