First Reading

2 CHR 36:14-16, 19-23 

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD's temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
"Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled."

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!"
 

Discussion Questions:

1.    Do you think God continues to send messengers now? What about you personally: does God send messengers "early and often," as the reading says? Give an example. What can you do to "open your door wider" so that all the messengers can get in?

Verse Before the Gospel

JN 3:16 

Gospel

JN 3:14-21 

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

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. 

The Gospel of the Lord

For God so loved the world

Christ,

God so loved the world
that he gave us
his Son.

You are The One
 we can see and touch and hear.

You are the Word,
speaking softly in creation,
whispering within our own inner souls.

Thank you, Deo Gratias, Gracias, Danke. 

Amen

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then we'll have peace."

By: Jimi Hendrix

"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

Abraham Lincoln

If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.

Deus fit homo ut homo fieret Deus

God became human so that humans might become God

(Catholicism, Page 2 by Fr. Robert Barron)

"The Glory of God is a human being fully alive."

Meyers, Robin R. (2009-02-19).  Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus (Kindle Location 639).  Harper Collins, Inc..  Kindle Edition.

Do small things today and for many tomorrows,
with a generous heart.