Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (3: 31-36) in which John the Baptist says to his followers ‘the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God; God gives him the Spirit without reserve. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him. Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life’.Fr Paul says we hear, at the end of this Gospel,  the words ‘Eternal life’. This term appears frequently in the Gospel of John. It means that death is not the final word; eternal life awaits all of us beyond this earthly life. It is a life of happiness with God. But with Jesus, eternal life begins to be a reality in this life. Jesus has the words of eternal life; we possess eternal life through faith in Jesus; we obtain eternal life by keeping the teachings of God.In closing, Fr Paul shares today’s Gospel challenge: we must be ready to give up our natural, earthly life in order to attain eternal life.