A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 3:13-17

Jesus said to Nicodemus...

"No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

REFLECTION: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

In the Old Testament reading , Book of Numbers 21:4b-9 , the people of Moses complained just about everything. How quickly they forgot their miserable plight in Egypt. And soon their venomous words were punished by poisonous snakes that attacked them and killed many. When they begged God for forgiveness, Moses made a bronze serpent and they were to gaze at it. And they were saved from the venomous snakes--their sins. They were to atone for their sins by setting eyes on the symbol of their sins--and they would live. They had complained and doubted God Almighty's great love for them and all He had done for them. This was a most egregious sin.

Now in the New Testament, the gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus , a Pharisee who was a secret follower of Jesus, that just as Moses lifted up the snake, the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Jesus took on our sins and for three hours hung on the cross--beaten beyond recognition to atone for our sins. We are told , as the Jewish people in Moses time, to look at our sins, look at what our sins did to the Son of Man, our lying, our violence, our drug use, our hatred, our envy, sloth, laziness, pettiness, cruelty, sexual deviation, sexual abuse of children, hypocrisy, lying, stealing, murdering and lack of love and compassion for others.

God has conquered sin, Satan and death! Amen

"The Cross is the most profound condescension of God to man....The Cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man's existence." Saint Pope John Paul II

Please pray for our unfaithful and tepid priests.