God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Though often used interchangeably, “mystery” and “problem” are not synonymous. One can come up with a solution to a problem, but one simply has to learn to live with a mystery. Death, suffering, and pain, for example, are mysteries that one has to accept as part of life. To turn them into “problems” is to open oneself to deep despair.

Among the most important mysteries that Christians should live with is the Trinity. Those who have reduced it to the “problem” of the one God in three Divine Persons will not be able to appreciate the richness of this mystery. St. Augustine of Hippo, in the famous encounter on the seashore, is lectured by an angel disguised as a child.

The heavenly being reminded the mortal that his intelligence is like a small hole that one digs by the beach. Just as the hole cannot possibly contain the ocean, so his intelligence is too limited for the mystery of God. The saint was advised to stop trying to find a solution to this “problem” but to live this mystery with his brothers and sisters.

In today’s Gospel reading, John reminds us that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that all those who believe in him might have eternal life. God has always been keen on conferring the gift of “sonship” on everyone.

Through the Trinity, we no longer stand outside the great “energy shield.” Instead, we are like “iron filings” which have become part of the magnet. We now form part of the great mystery that is the Trinity By imitating Jesus, the Trinity will be reflected in our lives.

Knowing that Jesus is totally dedicated to the Father, we must struggle to preserve this divine sonship. We can do this by giving priority to God’s will in our decisions and actions, in our plans and our objectives. We must always bear in mind that we, too, are agents of salvation.

Sanctity is no other than God’s life within us. If we follow the examples of our great saints, we also become God’s loving presence on earth, a mystery that attracts wonder and awe. Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova once declared:

“All the Russian cosmonauts are communists and atheists. No one among us has seen in the cosmos angels nor archangels. I think the same is true for our colleagues in the United States.”

Asked to comment on her statement, American astronaut James Alton McDivitt observed:

“It seems that there is no difference between here below and there above. If you live here below with a little intimacy with the angels and God, also there above you will live in this intimacy. If you do not feel his presence on earth, neither will you feel it on the moon or on Mars.”