Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for April 15, 2026
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The YouTube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I’m Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. It’s Wednesday, April 15th. I’m coming to you from the beautiful Bethany Retreat Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. Today in the Gospel, we have one of the most famous passages of all time. It’s plastered on football stadium walls across the United States of America. We don’t know if Jesus was saying the words or St. John the Evangelist was saying the words. I think St. John the Evangelist. But the words themselves are the truth that’s meant to set us free. St. John’s gospel tells us, “God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that we might not perish but have eternal life. For God does not want to condemn the world but save the world.” This is what we’re seeing in the crucifix behind me. Jesus did all of this not to condemn us, but so that we might be rescued, so that we might be redeemed. So that we might be ultimately saved. is as soon as this sort of phrase is said then we get the harsh truth that St. John throughout his gospel beginning in his prologue is stressing said the light came into the world but people preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Jesus came as that light so that we would be able to be illumined in all our ways by his living wisdom. But then also so that we might be warmed by the fire that burns and makes that light radiant. But so many of us preferred our old ways. We didn’t want to change. We didn’t want to gravitate to the light. We wanted to remain exactly where we were in relative or absolute darkness. And that’s the great sadness that so many haven’t adjusted to Jesus even during this Easter season when the whole world is supposed to be illumined by the light of the resurrection that the flame of the pascal candle that we have received in our Easter taper taking out into the middle of the world to try to light the world on fire that many of us haven’t yet been bringing that light on out. We haven’t made the choice to dwell in that light together with Jesus. Jesus says that the one who lives the truth remains in the light. And so he teaches us truths not just to inform our minds. He teaches us his truths so that it might inform our entire life so that it might change the day-to-day way we live. And when we live according to his truth, that’s when we begin to radiate fully his light. God so loved the world that he gave all of this to us. But he’s not going to force it on us. We have to change. We have to receive that gift. We have to live in that gift. And then he’s summoning us to pass that gift on. That just as we have received the fire of his light, we become transformed like a burning bush. And then we go to try to light fire everywhere. This is what missionaries try to do. They’re the ones who proclaim to the ends of the earth this unbelievable love of God. They’re the ones who seek to live in his truth so as to radiate his light and announce that light to others. They’re the ones who help others patiently to make the choice for the light to live in that light too. We pray for their successes all across the globe. We pray for us that we might recognize that we’re all summoned to be missionaries of that light by what we say by recapitulating Jesus’ truth, but more so by the way we live by radiating his light. Let’s ask the Lord for the gift this Easter season that we might be truly full of light as the light of the world reflecting Christ who is that inextinguishable flame. God bless you.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 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-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
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