Word of Life

April 2005

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Jesus often spoke in images and parables. It was a simple and effective way of teaching the very deep truths he was bringing. The idea of a shepherd with his flock, which is the context of this Word of Life, brought to mind scenes from everyday life. Jesus reminded his hearers of the thieves and bandits who, like ravening wolves, attacked the flock. In contrast, he compared himself to a good shepherd who truly cares for his sheep, who guides and defends them, even to the point, if necessary, of facing death!

But in Jesus’ case, beyond the parable, this actually came true: he really did die on the cross ‘so that we might live’ (1 John 4:9).

I came that they may have life…

Jesus came because the Father sent him to bring us his divine life. In fact God so loved the world that he gave his Son so that those who believe in him should not die, but have eternal life (see John 3:16).

The life Jesus came to bring is not the same as the earthly life we received from our parents. The life that he gives us is in fact ‘eternal life’, which means a sharing in his life as Son of God, entering into intimate communion with God: it is the very life of God, and Jesus can give it to us because he himself is Life. He said: “I am the Life” (see John 14:6) and ‘from his fullness we have all received’ (see John 1:16).

But the life of God, as we know, is love.

When Jesus, the Son of God who is Love, came on this earth, his life was love and he brought us the same love that burns in him. He gives us a flame from that same infinite blaze, and he wants us to be ‘alive’ with his life.

... and have it abundantly.

Since Jesus not only possesses life but ‘is’ Life, he can give it abundantly, in the same way as he gives the fullness of joy (see John 17:13).

God’s gift is always without measure, as infinite and generous as God himself is. So he fulfils the deepest aspirations of the human heart, which hungers for a life that is full and unending. He alone can satisfy our yearning for the infinite. His life is indeed ‘eternal life’, not a gift just for the future but for now. The life of God in us begins today and will never die.

How can we not think of those fulfilled Christians, the saints? They seem to us to have been so full of life that it overflowed around them.

What was the source of St Francis of Assisi’s universal openness, which made him able to welcome the poor, to go out to meet the Sultan, to see all creatures as brothers and sisters? What was the source of Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s practical love, that made her become a mother to every abandoned child and a sister to every lonely person? They both possessed the extraordinary life that Jesus had given them.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

How can we live this Word of Life?

Let’s welcome the Life that Jesus gives us and that is already living in us by baptism and through our faith. It is a Life that can always grow according to how much we love. It is love that makes us live. John writes that those who love live in God (see 1 John 4:16) and share his life. Yes, because if love is the life and being of God, love is also the life and being of humankind. In this way it is true that every time we don’t love we don’t live.

An eloquent testimony to this was the death of Renata Borlone, a focolarina whose cause for beatification has recently started. Having accepted, with all her heart, the news of her imminent death as the will of God, she said she wanted to bear witness that ‘death is life’, that it is resurrection. She decided, with the help of God, to demonstrate this right to the end. And she succeeded, transforming a reason for mourning into an Easter day.

Chiara Lubich

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