Gospel Reflection For The 10th day of April in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. 18 He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil. 20 For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved.
21 But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God.
Today’s Gospel is rarely quoted in full. I think most every Christian knows the lines, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 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.” Well, I hope they do at least. While that is a beautiful message, it must be read in context... and context is what is so very lacking in the way that children are taught the Bible. Children, especially, are taught to memorize verses. Those who do believe that they know the Bible, but their knowledge is partial and very subject to misunderstanding.
Let us look at the rest of this verse.... and I will even use a more modern translation for this, because understanding it is so important, “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.”
You see, more often than not, this passage is used by those who wish to deny the reality of sin. People quote only the first two sentences, claiming that God loves people and does not condemn their sinful actions. This is especially true when it comes to issues such as divorce, homosexuality, adultery, abortion and contraception. People say, “God understands. God made me this way. God does not condemn me, why do you?” The truth is that God never approves of sin and God does, certainly judge and condemn sinful behavior and actions. The Christian has a duty to correct or criticize sinful behavior and actions, not in a judgmental way, but so that the sinner will not face the final condemnation.
Most of the errors of belief and doctrine among Christians of all denominations are due to taking Bible verses out of context. We must always remember that even Satan quotes the scriptures for his own purposes, as he did when tempting our Lord in the desert. It is very evil to use the Word of God to sow error and confusion… but, that is exactly what Martin Luther did and these lies are what Protestantism is built upon. As Catholics we have a duty to read the Bible and to know its teaching in context, guided by Sacred Tradition and the infallibility of Catholic teaching. This is essential both for us, personally, and in our duty to correct error as taught by other denominations. A Catholic should know the Bible and its meaning better than any Protestant. If more did, the errors of Protestantism would have been refuted and millions of Christians would have come back into the One, Holy and Catholic and Apostolic Church centuries ago. We must begin, today, to rectify this grave tragedy that has put countless souls in jeopardy. Simply put, when anyone asks themselves, “Who is the best and most knowledgeable Christian I know?” if that answer is not a Catholic, we have failed. When a Protestant missionary comes to the door and begins quoting the Bible to us, if we cannot answer them with the full context of each verse, we have failed. As witnesses to the full Gospel as given to the world through the Catholic Church, it is our Christian duty to know the Word of God intimately and thoroughly.
If you have not done so already, purchase a Catholic Bible. Protestant Bibles are not accurate or complete. Get a Catholic Bible and begin reading it from the first page to the last today. If you read 5 pages a day, 5 days a week, you can read the entire Bible in a year. Or, read the daily Mass readings. Or, do both. A priest once told me of a man who was going blind. He was determined to memorize the entire Bible before he lost his sight, and he did. In his later years, children loved to sit on his lap and listen to him tell the stories of the Bible. He likely saved many souls. He was a poorly educated janitor before he lost his sight, but he read the Bible. We have no excuse.
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
I am also giving the .pdf as a free Thank You gift to anyone who becomes a paid subscriber to The Uncensored Catholic newsletter.
Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.