SEPTEMBER 14, 2025
It was firstly the triumph of love over hatred, the triumph of God’s love over human sin.
All authentic love is life-giving and God’s love is supremely life-giving.
That is why the crucifixion of Jesus was a triumph in another sense:
the triumph of life over death,
of God’s life over human death, a triumph in which we can all share.
That verse in today’s gospel reading which has spoken to believers down the centuries really sums up the meaning of today’s feast,
‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him’.
Today we are invited to look upon the cross as:
the ‘explosion of God’s life-giving love for us all’
and then to allow ourselves to be drawn into that love so that we can reflect it to others in our care for them.
This year, AD 2025, seems to be a particularly violent year across the world.
Today, Jesus is calling to us all to be peacemakers in our care for our families, parish communities, local, national and international fellow citizens on this planet loaned to us by God for the time being.