By Father Andrew Kelly
The Lord has gathered the community of believers. A cross, a table and a book of Scriptures dominate the worship space. All three objects together reveal the meaning of Sunday’s Gospel (John 3:14-21.)
The believers look upon the cross and profess their faith in Jesus being “lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
The “eternal life” is the present moment and not some future moment. This is the profundity of believers raising their eyes in faith upon the “lifted up” Jesus.
In the presence of the cross, the Word is proclaimed and body and blood are offered, eaten and drunk.
The Scriptures are familiar and the body and blood taste the same. But the community gathered in faith experiences the something “new” of John’s Gospel:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
In the silence that follows the Word, body and blood, God’s presence and revelation overwhelm the community:
“But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
(Father Andrew Kelly is a retired priest of the Diocese of Davenport.)
