Carmelite homily for Sunday, March 10, 2024 – Lectionary 32 (John 3:14-21) – Fourth Sunday of Lent
When I was joining the Carmelites I thought that I should learn a little bit more about the Order I’m joining. So I picked up the works of Teresa of Avila, a big name in the Carmelite Order. But soon I threw the book on the ground saying, “this woman thinks she is the Christ. I cannot believe they canonized her!” So then I went to the next big figure in the Carmelites, Saint John of the Cross. I start reading him. And I throw the book on the ground. I cannot believe that this man thinks he is the Christ. I cannot believe they canonized him. But they’re on to something. In today’s gospel, Nicodemus comes to Jesus quietly and at night, to learn from him. And we get that famous line, John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he sent us his only Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” We kind of think it is a Get Out of Jail card. You just play “I have faith in Jesus and I’m home free.” No, I think God has an agenda besides getting out of jail free with Jesus. God’s agenda is to turn us into Jesus. To turn us into the Christ. Teresa of Avila is right. John of the Cross is right. We have this famous quotation of Teresa of Avila – you’ve heard it before – Christ has no body now on earth but yours. I think that’s what she’s trying to convey. That’s what Jesus is trying to convey to Nicodemus. “Christ has no body now on earth but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are they eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” I think that’s the key here. That when our thoughts are like Jesus’, when our actions are like Jesus’, our compassion is like Jesus’, our love is like Jesus’, our forgiveness is like Jesus’, our actions and deeds are like Jesus’, the more they are, the more indistinguishable they are from Jesus, then we are the Christ. Christ is us on earth now today. Teresa is right. John is right. Jesus is right when talking to Nicodemus. That’s the call of life. That’s the call of the Father sending his Son. That’s the call of today’s gospel.
