Monday April 12

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

 

SPEAKING GOD’S WORD BOLDLY

 

Introduction

Nicodemus, the sincere but cautious intellectual, comes to Jesus at night. He is afraid to show openly that he follows Christ. The apostles and the Christian community are persecuted. They are afraid too, but they pray for courage. The Spirit makes them bold in proclaiming Christ and in being signs of Christ’s presence in his community. Christians are people who are to be reborn in Christ, reborn in the Spirit. Hence, they are people who should remain eternally young. Is our faith timid or bold? Do we dare stand up for the Gospel and live our faith openly?

 

Opening Prayer

Lord, our God,
our faith is at times timid and wavering,
for we are afraid
of being contradicted or ridiculed.
Let your Spirit blow in us
and give us a bit of his strength,
that we may stand up boldly
for what we believe
and live our faith consistently.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Acts 4:23-31

After their release Peter and John went back to their own people
and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them.
And when they heard it,
they raised their voices to God with one accord
and said, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth
and the sea and all that is in them,
you said by the Holy Spirit
through the mouth of our father David, your servant:

Why did the Gentiles rage
and the peoples entertain folly?
The kings of the earth took their stand
and the princes gathered together
against the Lord and against his anointed.

Indeed they gathered in this city
against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed,
Herod and Pontius Pilate,
together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
to do what your hand and your will
had long ago planned to take place.
And now, Lord, take note of their threats,
and enable your servants to speak your word
with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal,
and signs and wonders are done
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 2:1-3, 4-7a, 7b-9

(see 11d) Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples utter folly?
The kings of the earth rise up,
and the princes conspire together
against the LORD and against his anointed:
“Let us break their fetters
and cast their bonds from us!”
R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He who is throned in heaven laughs;
the LORD derides them.
Then in anger he speaks to them;
he terrifies them in his wrath:
“I myself have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I will proclaim the decree of the LORD.
R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You shall rule them with an iron rod;
you shall shatter them like an earthen dish.”
R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: Col 3:1

Alleluia, alleluia.
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Jn 3:1-8

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
He came to Jesus at night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you are doing
unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to him,
“How can a man once grown old be born again?
Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”
Jesus answered,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and Spirit
he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
What is born of flesh is flesh
and what is born of spirit is spirit.
Do not be amazed that I told you,
‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills,
and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

Intercessions

–                   For the newly baptized, that their faith may always remain fresh and young, we pray:

–                   For all the baptized, that the Spirit may keep them from letting their faith becoming apathetic and passive, we pray:

–                   For our Christian communities, that they may boldly proclaim their faith by their spirit of service and compassion, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our God,
your Holy Spirit changes our offerings
of bread and wine into Christ.
May he also send down his power
on his Christian community,
to unite and to renew us again and again,
until we dare to proclaim
the message of your Son
by the witnessing of our lives.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord, our God,
you have your own wise ways
to carry out your plans;
when people try to frustrate them,
they cannot be but losers.
God, give us your Spirit of wisdom,
the Spirit in whom we were reborn in baptism,
and in him, keep us ever young of heart and mind,
that we may keep serving you
with the enthusiasm of our youth.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

We have all been reborn in baptism. Let our minds and hearts not grow old, but stay fresh and active, whatever our age. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

 

Nicodemus in today’s Gospel addresses Jesus in the plural: we know. He behaves as though he is the mouthpiece of a Jewish community or group. For the purpose of the narrative, John the evangelist must have portrayed the character of Nicodemus as a representative of those Jews who was open to the uniqueness of Jesus but, locked in to their familiar and comfortable traditional pharisaic mindset, were unable or unwilling to move to whole-hearted faith in him.
He would represent, as well, all of us who feel safe and supported by our unquestioned traditions and practices, and find ourselves unable or unwilling to accept the newness of Jesus’ call to be born as children of God and brotherhood of all.
We must have listened to meditations on this passage saying Nicodemus was afraid of being noticed of approaching Jesus and therefore he came in the night to meet Jesus. Perhaps John has something more to tell his readers than what is said in the text because John was definitely not writing a chronicle of the life of Jesus. Nicodemus comes from the night – from the darkness of his traditions and mindset. His conversation with Jesus is the first step towards his journey into the light of Jesus.
Nicodemus is the most honest Israelite who seeks the truth. The darkness of the night indicates the condition of one who gropes in darkness but is eager to find the light. He was a faithful observer of the Law, and yet, like the rich young man who approached Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, he realized that he was missing something in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus invites him to “be born from above” but he misunderstood it.

Can we think of areas to which, we know, the Lord calls us but our traditions and practices prevent us from walking into? Can we identify areas of darkness and night from which we find it difficult to walk to the freedom of light? Nicodemus’ journey continued till the foot of the Cross. Do we dare to step out like Nicodemus to take up that journey?