Gospel Reflection for The 1st day of May in the year of Our Lord, 2025
John 3:31-36
31 He that cometh from above, is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from heaven, is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth: and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loveth the Son: and he hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Today's Gospel continues on the message of yesterday's, but here we are reminded of the wrath of God. This is not something spoken of much in homilies these days. I have heard it said that the God of the Old Testament is wrathful, while the God of the New Testament is loving and forgiving. But, God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. Saint Clement of Alexandria, writing in the second century tells us:
With all His power, therefore, the Instructor of humanity, the Divine Word, using all the resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the saving of the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving, threatening, healing, promising, favouring; and as it were, by many reins, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity. To speak briefly, therefore, the Lord acts towards us as we do towards our children. “Hast thou children? correct them,” is the exhortation of the book of Wisdom, “and bend them from their youth. Hast thou daughters? attend to their body, and let not thy face brighten towards them,”—although we love our children exceedingly, both sons and daughters, above aught else whatever. For those who speak with a man merely to please him, have little love for him, seeing they do not pain him; while those that speak for his good, though they inflict pain for the time, do him good for ever after. It is not immediate pleasure, but future enjoyment, that the Lord has in view.
As is said, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” As Catholics we receive the Holy Sacraments and the Fullness of the Truth. God gives us the means to become holy as He is Holy, and as He said, “like gods.” With such a reward, much is demanded of us. That begins with conversion and repentance, but continues in a life-long struggle to overcome our fallen human nature. It is not easy. In my Catholic writings, I often try to remind myself and others that we must accept and obey all of the teachings of Jesus through His Church and His written Word. Often, people take offense when I condemn so called “cafeteria Catholicism.” But, in our Confirmation we vow to accept all of the teachings of the Catholic Church and to abide by them.
If we believe in an infallible Church that teaches with God-given authority all that is right and just and condemns all that is wrong, this should be easy... but, it is not. It is certainly not popular. But, it is the duty of both the Church and of individual Christians to stand firm in such matters. It would be a mortal sin not to warn a blind man if he was in danger of stepping into traffic or off or a cliff. It is also both a Christian duty and an act of charity to warn against the danger of sin, especially such grave matters as abortion, divorce, homosexuality, heretical doctrines, communism, atheism, Freemasonry, theft, violence and many things that our Godless culture seeks to normalize and celebrate.
Each of us would do well to repeat our Confirmation vows daily and all churches should do so publicly, at least annually. If, through thorough examination of conscience, we find that we disagree with even one sentence in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we must go immediately to a good priest for counseling – a doctrinally sound and orthodox priest. Then, we may go to confession and receive the Eucharist. Otherwise, we receive the Eucharist unworthily and become guilty of the murder of Jesus. I don't think this is emphasized nearly enough. If at any time we think we know better what is right and wrong than official Church teaching states, we have made ourselves our gods and are guilty of idolatry. We must believe and embrace all of the teachings of the Catholic Church to be in full communion with the Church. Otherwise, the Sacrament that makes us holy brings condemnation upon us and even damnation.
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic