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甲年—天主圣三节

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel：John 3：16-18（若3：16-18）

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John,

Glory to you, O Lord!

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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily：The God We Believe In 

Just three dense verses constitute the Gospel passage today. They would be enough to correct the distorted image of God still present in the minds of many Christians—that of the stern and inflexible judge—and to open our hearts to trust in his love.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost” (v. 16). It can be considered the summit reached by the biblical revelation on the meaning of creation, life and human destiny.

John, who has seen with his own eyes and touched with his hands the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1), arrives to say, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8); love that manifested itself in the only begotten Son’s gift to the world. He has not only given him in the Incarnation; he delivered him into the hands of men on the cross. There he has shown his true face, without any veil.

Paul shows that he understood this miracle of love. When, writing to the Romans, he says: “But see how God manifested his love for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). How should humans respond to this love? One thing only: that they trust, abandons themselves in his arms—as does the bride with the groom—who hands herself to him, immense love, in the certainty of meeting life.

When we think of God who became one of us in Jesus of Nazareth, sometimes we make the mistake of considering this fact as an episode, a sad parenthesis of his existence. He came among us, remained a little more than thirty years, suffered and died on the cross, then returned to heaven, far away, happy to have retaken the former state. That is not so. Our God took on our human nature and remains forever one of us. He has not pulled himself out of our world. He is and remains always the Emmanuel, the God-with-us (Mt 28:20).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not appear as a judge who condemns, but only as a savior of persons: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him, the world is to be saved.”(v. 17) “For I have come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world” (Jn 12:47). The third and final verse of today's passage is read in this perspective. In it, the responsibility of each person in front of God's love is highlighted. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned” (v. 18).

Today we are called to welcome the joy that God offers, but we can also commit the folly of delaying or even refusing his embrace. He expects an immediate “yes” from persons because every moment spent in sin, in the rejection of his love, is a wasted opportunity.

At the end of life, when God “will test the work of everyone” (1 Cor 3:13), the conformity or discrepancy of each person’s action with the person of Christ will appear clear. God then surely welcomes all in his arms, though some will be forced to admit to having badly managed, hopelessly wasted the unique opportunity that was offered to them. The work of this man—warns Paul—“will become ashes; although he will be saved, but it will be as if passing through fire” (1 Cor 3:15).

证道：拥抱天主的喜乐，信赖天主的爱！

今日的福音只是三节密集的内容，不过，这已经足够纠正存在于许多基督徒思想中所扭曲的天主形象——严厉和僵化的法官，并打开我们的心，信赖天主的爱。“天主竟这样爱了世界，甚至赐下了自己的独生子，使凡信他的人不至丧亡，反而获得永生”。这句话可以视为达到了圣经启示受造物、生命和人类命运意义的顶峰。

若望以他自己的眼光所见，以及用双手触摸的生命圣言（若一1：1），才说：“天主是爱”（若一4：8）；爱在独生子给世界的恩赐中彰显了自身。天主不仅赐他降生成人，还把他交给那些亲手钉在十字架上的人手中。由此，天主彰显了自己真正的面容，毫无任何邪恶可言。

保禄表示自己理解这爱的神奇。在给罗马人的信中，他说：“但是，基督在我们还是罪人的时候，就为我们死了，这证明了天主怎样爱我们”（罗5：8）。人要如何回应这份爱呢？只有一件事：就是要信赖天主，并投入天主的怀抱中——如同新娘与新郎一样——在面对生命的确定性中，她把自己交给他、交给无限的爱。

当我们认为天主因纳匝肋人耶稣而成为我们中的一员时，有时候我们会错误地把这个事实视为一个插曲、一个他存在的不幸片段。他来到我们中间，停留了三十余年，受苦难并惨死在十字架上，然后回到遥远的天国，欢喜地重获之前的国度。事实并非如此。我们的天主取了我们的人性，并永远是我们中的一员。祂并没有把自己从我们的世界拽出去。祂是，而且仍然一直是厄玛奴耳，天主与我们同在（玛28：20）。

在《若望福音》中，耶稣并未以审判的法官身份出现，而是仅仅作为人类的救世主：“天主没有派遣子到世界上来审判世界，而是为叫世界借着他而获救”。“因为我不是为审判世界而来，乃是为拯救世界”（若12：47）。

今日福音的第三节，也就是最后一节经文是在这个角度来看的。在这个角度下，每个人在天主之爱面前的责任都是被特别强调的。“那信从他的，不受审判；那不信的，已受了审判，因为他没有信从天主独生子的名字。”

今日，我们被召叫迎接天主提供的喜乐，但是我们也可能拖延，或者甚至于愚蠢地拒绝天主的拥抱。天主期待来自人直接立即的“是”，因为在罪恶中度过，以及拒绝天主之爱的每个时刻，都在浪费时机。

在生命的末刻，当天主“要试验各人的工程”（格前3：13）的时候，每人的行为与基督之人的一致与否都将清晰出现。尽管一些人将被迫承认处置不当，无望地浪费了特意为他们提供的机会，但是天主仍旧会把所有人都拥在怀中。保禄警告说，这人的工作将成为灰烬；尽管他自己固然可得救，可是仍像从火中经过的一样（格前3：15）。