THE GOOD NEWS: GOD LOVES US

APRIL 15, 2007

Today, we celebrate God’s love for us. We reflect on the fact that God made the human person, the apex of his creation. Having made all the wonderful things around us, the earth, the land, the sea and the sky, fishes and birds, and all sorts of animals wild and tame, he saw that it was very good. There was no one, however, whom he could love that would be able to love him in return. So he created the man and the woman in his own likeness. He loved them and gave them all that he had created, for their use and enjoyment.

Because they were created in his likeness, Adam and Eve enjoyed the freedom to do as they pleased. And, in their freedom, they chose to disobey God, and thus failed to return his love with love. They sinned and, as a result, suffering, pain and even death came into the world. God was saddened by their sin, but He still loved them and immediately promised to send his son to save them. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” (Gen 3:15).

This is what we celebrate today! “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” (John 3:16). Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to save us from sin and death. He conquered death by obediently dying on the Cross, and gave us new life by being raised on the third day. This is God’s gift of redemption.

As we thank God for this magnificent gift, let us remember that, in the words of Father Eugene La Verdieire, “redemption begins with the incarnation, and the incarnation is fulfilled in the redemption.” Today, as we celebrate his Resurrection, let us reflect on the prophetic nature of the nativity events:
• The rejection of Jesus in Nazareth where “there was no room for them in the inn” or in anyone’s home (cf. Lk 2:7) is now realized in Jerusalem, “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him” (Jn 1:11), and they cried out "Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!" (Jn 19:15).
• When the Child was presented in the Temple, “Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted {and you yourself a sword will pierce} so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” (Luke 2:34-35). This was the final prophecy about his suffering and death.
• Mary “wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7) was a preview of the burial of Jesus when “Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it (in) clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock” (Mt 27:59).

On this the first day of the week, the “Glory to God in the highest” of the angels in Bethlehem (cf. Lk 2:14) became “Alleluia” to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem. Everyone was rejoicing: Mary when she met Him near the tomb, Peter and John at the empty tomb, the two disciples at Emmaus, the Twelve in the Upper Room, they had all seen the Risen Lord! And, with John, the other disciple who had run with Peter to the tomb and who “saw and believed” (cf. John 20:8-9), they all finally understood the Scriptures and all that Jesus had told them, and they BELIEVED! “Alleluia” became their song! Rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia!

Today, “Alleluia” is our song, as well, for we have come to believe. We believe that “…God so loved the world that he gave his only Son …” (Jn 3:16). We believe that “…the Son of Man (came) … to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). We believe that “...Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified …has been raised” (cf. Mark 16:6).

The sounds of the Easter Proclamation ring in our ears and our hearts are filled with joy!
• “For Christ has ransomed us with his blood, and paid for us the price of Adam’s sin to our eternal Father!
• “This is the night [day] when sinners everywhere, washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement, are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.
• “This is the night [day] when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave” (Sacramentary, Easter Proclamation).

This is the good news that we have embraced and that Jesus has entrusted to us, so that we may proclaim it to the ends of the earth (cf. Mt 28:19-20). Like the Emmaus disciples who immediately returned to Jerusalem and Mary of Magdala who ran from the tomb, to tell the Twelve, we must now “run” to tell the good news to everyone, everywhere.

I am exceedingly pleased with the thousands of men, women and youth throughout the Valley who have, during this Lent, become Disciples in Mission. They have prepared themselves to be witnesses of God’s great love for us. I invite thousands more to join them. Let us together build up God’s Kingdom in the Rio Grande Valley! Let us together cry out, “Alleluia, the Lord is truly risen!” And may our Alleluias resound from the Gulf of Mexico to the ends of the earth!

May the Risen Savior be a source of joy for you and your loved ones today and every day of your life. Have a happy and holy Easter season!

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 05-Jun-2008 9:48 sitemap