Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 12, 2021
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.”
Let’s start with something that is easily missed: Nicodemeus comes to Jesus AT NIGHT! This is VERY important. WE ALL come to Jesus, the Light of the world, at NIGHT! Nicodemus, who was a scholar of the law, got it wrong and Jesus had to explain it to him. What a relief that must be for the rest of us. I know I have had it wrong many times. In the new miniseries, The Chosen, Jesus discusses this very issue. He says, “What if our leaders of the torah had it all wrong!?” Jesus came to teach us something NEW!
To be born again of water and spirit obviously is relating to our baptism. Most of us were baptized as babies, but that makes no difference. We are still a new creation, born again. Now, there have been times in my life where the spirit has moved me to speak up. One time I was on an airplane, and this steward saw some Christians doing bible study. She talked to them about her brother, who was gay and living with another man. She had been invited to dinner, but did not know what to do. She asked for their advice. I spoke up. I never would have done that without the spirit of the Lord moving me to do so. I asked her, do you love your brother? She said Yes, and I said, let that be enough!
I love what Jesus says, The spirit is like the wind, it blows but we do not know from what direction it comes and goes. Yet, another example: a friend of mine is an atheist. He has a very hard time even discussing things of God, but he finds peace when he goes to St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City while he sits quietly with the candles in the church. Now, tell me that is not the spirit moving in his life to let him know “I am here”
In closing, let us all be open to the spirit of God moving in ways we do not understand. Nicodemus didn’t understand at first. I guess we are ALL like Nicodemus who need our Lord to explain things to us that can very easily go right over our heads.
Prayer
Lord God, when we find ourselves approaching you timidly, like Nicodemus, guide us like Jesus did him to recognize how we have been born from above in water and the spirit. Empower us to live with courage, wisdom, and love. We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Saint Teresa of Los Andes was one of the Young Witnesses selected by the 2018 Synod of Bishops to serve as a patron for their meeting on young people in the Church, which took place in Rome in October 2018. Like another of the great saints with whom she shares a name, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent at a very young age, when she was just eighteen.
Teresa was born Juana Fernandez Solar in Santiago, Chile on July 13, 1900. She was the fourth of six children and was known for her choleric and passionate temperament. One anecdote about this fiery young saint-in-the making tells the story of a time when Juana was pestering her younger sister Rebecca. Annoyed with Juana's antics, Rebecca slapped her in the face. Juana grabbed her to retaliate the slap, but mid-gesture repented, and kissed her sister on the cheek. Rebecca, understandably, was confused and accused Juana of kissing her with the "kiss of Judas."
Throughout her adolescence, Juana continued to slowly convert her passionate outbursts into a single-minded aspiration for union with God. She encountered a kindred soul and spiritual mentor in Thérèse, whose spiritual autobiography, Story of a Soul, she read as a child. Juana was profoundly moved by the sensitive, self-aware Thérèse who was so keenly aware of her own self-absorption and pride, yet who transformed this natural disposition into total dedication to God.
Inspired by Thérèse, Juana sought to become a Carmelite. When she was seventeen, she sent a letter to the prioress of the Discalced Carmelite convent in Los Andes, expressing her desire to join the order. Juana was frustrated by the lack of response and the nagging unfulfillment of her one desire. Juana spoke to her mother, who advised her to speak to her father. Juana wrote her father a letter about her desire to join Carmel while she was away at boarding school. He never answered. Intimidated, but determined, Juana approached her father in March of 1919 when she was home from school, and he granted her permission. On May 7, 1919, Juana entered the Carmelite novitiate and took the name Teresa of Jesus. While still in her first year of religious life, Teresa contracted typhus and her health steadily declined.
As she approached death, the Carmelites allowed her to profess religious vows early, even though she had not completed her novitiate year. On April 7, 1920, Teresa took her first vows, and five days later, on April 12, Teresa died.
Devotion to Teresa of Los Andes spread quickly due to the publication of letters that she wrote to a wide number of people during her year in Carmel, offering spiritual advice and insight. Teresa is an example of the purity of heart cited in the Beatitudes—her life was fueled by love and love alone. Over the course of her short nineteen years, Teresa learned to channel the deep passion inherent in her personality towards the pursuit of God. Her letters attest to this wild love, and firm-minded devotion. When she was beatified on April 3, 1987, Teresa became Chile's first citizen to be beatified, and when she was canonized in 1993 by Pope John Paul II, she became Chile's first canonized saint. She is a patron saint of Santiago, Chile, where she was born and a patron of young people.
Santa Teresa de Los Andes, powerful witness to the great fruit of quiet faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Teresa of the Andes is in the public domain. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
