John 3:16-21
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things
hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth
comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Some years ago, I met a nun who teaches at a post-graduate school of a Catholic order. She was deputized to “check me out” because I had proposed to teach a course there.
In our little chat in her office, I described to her my 10-year journey back to God and to the Church — a journey that involved my soul (I realized my sinfulness), my mind (I had to be convinced that God exists — it’s not arrogance; it’s about intellectual conviction), and lastly, my heart.
The last piece that fell into place occurred during Mass. As I, sitting in a back pew, watched the congregation line up to receive His Body and Blood, a thought “came into my head”: God must love me for putting up with me all these years.
When I related that to the nun, she looked incredulous, and I knew then and there that this woman, who became a nun so many years ago and whose academic interests include “queer theology,” neither knew nor felt that God loves her.
How very sad . . . .
May the peace and love of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you this glorious joyous Sunday!
~Éowyn
