“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
A well-known verse in the Bible impresses on us just how much God loves us and how far He is prepared to go to extend his love for us. His love for us is unconditional.
I remembered a homily shared by a priest where he was invited by some church members to visit an old lady who used to be an active church member but later refused to attend church. The church members shared that the lady had distanced herself from the church after her husband suddenly passed on. Shortly after, her son also passed on. These two tragic events made her question, where is God? and why is God punishing her when she and her husbands are active church members and frequently make donations to support church events.
When encountered with such deep setbacks, we question God’s love for us, we stop praying or going to church as we think it is pointless, thinking “Bad things still happen when I am good and prayerful.” However, the question we need to ask ourselves is how deep and unconditional my love for God my Father is. Why is it only when things are going well do we think that my Father loves us? When we encounter tragic events, are we still able to, with tears in our eyes, continue to worship and glorify the Trinity and believe that His love is constant and continue to place our trust in Him?
As Jesus shared in the Gospel, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” This foreshadows Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for our salvation.
By: Corrine Ng