Working with the Word

Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases: come to me, should not lose, will of my Father, believes in him, have eternal life

To the point: God wills that all "have eternal life." While this gift is surely and freely given by God, it nonetheless requires something of us: belief in the Son. Rather than an intellectual consent, this belief is a consent of our self, of our will, of our life. Jesus will raise up on the "last day" those who come to him, who choose to be grasped by him, and who welcome the Life he gives. These are the faithful departed who rest in peace and whom we commemorate this day.

Connecting the Gospel…

... to the first reading: The second reading makes clear in what way belief is consent: we must unite ourselves with Christ in his death, that is, we must die to self. This embracing of death leads to union with Christ in his resurrection.

... to experience: Consent implies something more than words. Signing a contract means fulfilling its terms; marriage consent means a lifetime of fidel- ity; consent to undergo surgery means we place ourselves in the hands of the surgeon. Our belief-consent in Jesus means more than words: it transforms the way we live and relate, both in this life and in the next.

**From Saint Louis University