Easter Time 

1) Opening prayer

Lord God, our Father,

You are not far away from any of us,

for in You we live and move and exist

and You live in us

through Your Holy Spirit.

Be indeed with us, Lord,

send us Your Holy Spirit of truth

and through Him deepen our understanding

of the life and message of Your Son,

that we may accept the full truth

and live by it consistently.

We ask You this through Christ our Lord. 

2) Gospel Reading - John 3:1-8

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night and said, 'Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one could perform the signs that You do unless God were with Him.'

Jesus answered, ‘In all truth I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said, 'How can anyone who is already old be born? Is it possible to go back into the womb again and be born?'

Jesus replied, ‘In all truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the Spirit; what is born of human nature is human; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised when I say, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’

3) Reflection

• The Gospel today presents part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus appears several times in the Gospel of John:

(Jn 3:1-13; 7:50-52; 19:39). He was a person who held a certain social position. He was a leader among the Jews and formed part of the supreme tribunal, called the Sanhedrin. In the Gospel of John, he represents the group of Jews who were pious and sincere, but who did not understand everything which Jesus said and did. Nicodemus had heard about the signs and the wonderful things that Jesus did, and he was struck, amazed. He wanted to speak with Jesus in order to understand better. He was a cultured person, who thought he believed the things of God. He expected the Messiah with the Book of the Law in his hand to verify if the novelty announced by Jesus would arrive. Jesus makes Nicodemus understand that the only way to understand the things of God is to be born again! Today this same thing happens. Some, like Nicodemus, accept as new only what agrees with their ideas. What does not agree with their ideas is rejected and considered contrary to tradition. Others allow themselves to be surprised from facts and are not afraid to say, “I have been born anew!”

• John 3:1: A man called Nicodemus. Shortly before Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, the Evangelist was speaking of the imperfect faith of certain persons who were interested only in the miracles of Jesus (Jn 2:23-25). Nicodemus was one of these people. He had good will, but his faith was still imperfect. The conversation with Jesus helped him to perceive that he had to advance in order to be able to deepen his faith in Jesus and in God.

• John 3:2: 1st question of Nicodemus: the tension between what is old and what is new. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a prominent person among the Jews and with good common sense. He went to meet Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbì, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one could perform the signs that You do unless God were with him”. Nicodemus gives an opinion of Jesus according to arguments which he, Nicodemus himself, has within himself. This is already important, but it is not enough to know Jesus. The signs which Jesus works can arouse a person and awake some interest in the person. They can generate curiosity, but they do not generate greater faith. They do not make one see the Kingdom of God present in Jesus. For this reason it is necessary to advance, to take one more step. What is this step?

• John 3:3: Jesus’ response: "You must be born again!” In order that Nicodemus can see the Kingdom present in Jesus, he should be born again, from above. Anyone who tries to understand Jesus only from his arguments alone does not succeed in understanding Him. Jesus is much greater. If Nicodemus remains only with the catechism of the past in his hand, he will not manage to understand Jesus. He should open his hand completely. He should set aside his own certainties and his security and abandon himself totally. He should make a choice between, on the one hand, the security which comes from organized religion with its laws and traditions and, on the other hand, launch himself into the adventure of the Spirit which Jesus proposes to him.

• John 3:4: 2nd question of Nicodemus: How can anyone who is already old be born again? Nicodemus does not give in and returns with the same question with a certain irony: “How can a man be born when he is old? Is it possible to go back into the womb again and be born again?” Nicodemus takes Jesus’ words  literally and, because of this, he understands nothing. He should have realized that the words of Jesus had a symbolic sense.

• John 3:5-8: Jesus’ answer: To be born from above, to be born from the Spirit. Jesus explains what it means to be born from above or to be born again. It is “To be born from water and the Spirit”. Here we have a very clear reference to Baptism. Through the conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus, the Evangelist invites us to review our Baptism. He gives the following words: “What is born of human nature is human, what is born of the Spirit is Spirit”. Flesh means that which is born only from our ideas. What is born from us is within our reach. To be born of the Spirit is another thing! The Spirit is like the wind. “The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going; so it is with anyone who is born of the Spirit”. The wind has within itself a direction, a route. We perceive the direction of the wind, for example, the North wind or the wind coming from the South, but we do not know, nor can we control the cause why the wind moves in this or that direction. This is the way the Spirit is. "No one is the master of the Spirit” (Eccl 8: 8). What characterizes the wind best, the Spirit, is liberty. The wind, the Spirit, is free, He cannot be controlled. He acts on others and nobody can act on him. His origin is a mystery. The boat must first find the route of the wind. Then it has to place the sails according to that route. That is what Nicodemus should do and what we should all do.

• A key to understanding better the words of Jesus on the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew language uses the same word to say wind and spirit. As we have said the wind has within it a route, a direction: the North wind, the wind from the South. The Spirit of God has a route, a project, which already manifested itself in creation. The Spirit was present in creation under the form of a bird which flew over the waters of the chaos (Gen 1: 2). Year after year, He renews the face of the earth and sets nature through the sequence of the seasons (Ps 104:30; 147:18). The same is also present in history. He makes the Red Sea move back (Ex 14: 21) and He gives quails to the people to eat (Num 11:31). He accompanies Moses and, beginning with him, He distributes the leaders of the people (Num 11:24-25). He took the leaders and took them to carry out liberating actions: Othniel (Judg 3:10), Gideon (Judg 6:34), Jephthah (Judg 11:29), Samson (Judg 13: 25; 14: 6, 19; 15:14), Saul (1Sam 11:6), and Deborah, the prophetess (Judg 4: 4). He is present in the group of the prophets and acts in them with the force which is contagious (1Sam 10: 5-6, 10). His action in the prophets produces envy in the others. But Moses reacts, “If only all Yahweh’s people were prophets, and Yahweh had given them His spirit!” (Num 11:29).

• All along the centuries the hope grew that the Spirit of God would have oriented the Messiah in the realization of God’s project (Isa 11:1-9) and it would have descended upon all the people of God (Ezek 36: 27; 39: 29; Isa 32:15; 44:3). The great promise of the Spirit appears in various ways in the prophets of the exile: the vision of the dry bones, risen by the force of the Spirit of God (Ezek 37:1-14); the effusion of the Spirit of God on all the people (Joel 3:1-5); the vision of the Messiah-Servant who will be anointed by the Spirit to establish the right on earth and announce the Good News to the poor (Isa 42:1; 44:1-3; 61:1-3). They perceive a future, in which people, always more and more, are reborn thanks to the effusion of the Spirit (Ezek 36: 26-27; Ps 51: 12; cf. Isa 32:15-20).

• The Gospel of John uses many images and symbols to signify the action of the Spirit. Just like in creation (Gen 1:1), in the same way the Spirit descended upon Jesus “like a dove, coming from heaven” (Jn 1:32). It is the beginning of the new creation! Jesus pronounces the words of God and communicates to us His Spirit (Jn 3:34). His words are spirit and life (Jn 6:63). When Jesus announces that he is going to the Father, He says that He will send another Consoler, another defender, so that He can remain with us. He is the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17). Through His Passion, death and resurrection, Jesus obtains for us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through Baptism all of us receive this same Spirit of Jesus (Jn 1:33). When He appears to the Apostles, He breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit!” (Jn 20:22). The Spirit is like the water which springs up from persons who believe in Jesus (Jn 7: 37-39; 4:14). The first effect of the action of the Spirit in us is reconciliation: "If you forgive anyone’s sins they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins they are retained” (Jn 20:23). The Spirit is given to us in order that we may remember and understand the full meaning of the words of Jesus (Jn 14: 26; 16: 12-13). Animated by the Spirit of Jesus we can adore God anywhere (Jn 4: 23-24). Here is realized the liberty of the Spirit of whom Saint Paul speaks: “Where the Spirit is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17).

4) Personal questions

• How do you react to new things which present themselves; like Nicodemus or do you accept God’s surprizes?

• Jesus compares the action of the Holy Spirit to the wind (Jn 3:8). What does this comparison reveal to me about the action of the Spirit of God in my life? Have you already had some experience which has given you the impression of being born again? 

5) Concluding prayer

I will bless Yahweh at all times,

His praise continually on my lips.

I will praise Yahweh from my heart;

let the humble hear and rejoice. (Ps 34:1-2)