In this weekend’s Gospel according to St. John we hear, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.” Have you ever really thought about what that means? Have you ever asked yourself if you believe those words?
Most of us realize that we are sinners. Most of us realize that we are not worthy of the love of God, that we don’t deserve to have Jesus die for us on the Cross. We pray emphatically before Communion, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof….” Unfortunately, that is where most of us get stuck. I am not worthy, now what?
We need to realize that YES we are not worthy, but God loves us SO much that he makes us worthy. He loves us so much that he decides to send his only Son to die for us. So much so does the Son love us, that he dies upon the Cross for us, unworthy though we are. It is not up to us to decide for God. He has decided, and it is His decision to love us. “God so loved the world.” We must accept it. We must embrace it. We must be overjoyed by it. Yes, we are sinners, but God so loves us that we must fall every day with a great joy into His loving arms, which never fail to embrace us, because He loves us no matter what.