Our Lady of Good Counsel, Patron OSA Australian Province





Wednesday, April 26, 2006
MeditationJohn 3:16-21
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. (John 3:16)
This one simple sentence is the core of our faith. It is the good news that has been proclaimed for two thousand years. God the Most High, uncreated Creator, sent his only Son into the world to save the people he had created. He didn’t treat us as we deserved, condemning us as sinners for our disobedience. Instead, in his amazing love, he allowed his Son to endure so much dishonor and shame so that he could redeem us through his unflinching obedience.
How can we fathom the love of the Father, who offered his only Son for sinners? How can we comprehend the love of the Son, who so eagerly responded to his Father’s call? Try as we might, the story of salvation will forever defy human reason. We can’t fathom the kind of love that would motivate such a sacrifice. We could never experience absolutely perfect self-giving from any human friend. But we can experience it from God—and experience it every day.
God has no need of us; he is lacking in nothing; yet in his Son he has reached out to each one of us to draw us to himself in personal love. This God who knows every detail of our lives calls us his children and waits to hear us answer, “Abba”—Father! Meditating on this love should bring us to our knees in awe and wonder. It should move us to give our lives to him in worship and obedience.
In sending his Son to save us, God sent the perfect representation of himself, so that we might know him as he truly is. In listening to the Son, we hear the Father—his thoughts, his plans, his very heart. We could never experience this on our own; only by the power of God’s grace can we be lifted up to this entirely new life. And that’s how God’s love—a love he showed when he gave his only Son—saves us.
“Father, I can understand only faintly the love you have shown me and my brothers and sisters on this earth. I am overwhelmed that you would care so much for me. With all my heart, I choose to love you in return.”
Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 34:2-9

May God bless you this evening wherever you may be..
Ed...