Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 14, 2026
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘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.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
Today’s reading comes from one of the most memorable episodes of Jesus’ public ministry, the visit of Nicodemus. In this passage, Jesus emphasizes rebirth in the Spirit and his own role in salvation. He even predicts his Passion, comparing his purpose to be “lifted up” with Moses lifting the serpent in the desert.
This is a reference to the Book of Numbers. During their wandering, the Israelites complained and sinned against God, and as a consequence, serpents came among them and bit them. Many were dying, but God instructed Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a pole. Looking at the elevated serpent cured the people.
In the same way, Jesus comes into a world where mankind has sinned and, as a result, death has entered the human experience. Jesus is raised on the cross to heal us from sin. And just as sin brings a deeper death than venom, Jesus brings a deeper healing than the restoration of physical health. He brings rebirth in the Spirit and eternal life.
This is ultimately reassuring, but it can be hard to remember through life’s challenges. After all, life’s difficulties––whether sickness, work challenges, loneliness––feel discouraging. They can draw our attention away from heaven, lead us to focus single-mindedly on our troubles, and even bring out emotions like anger and a lack of generosity.
Still, the challenge of faith is not to dwell on these pains we feel here in the vale of tears. Jesus doesn’t heal everyone from physical infirmities. But he does promise us that in looking to him, trusting in him, being reborn in him, we can receive an eternal life greater than all we may endure here.
Prayer
Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd. You tend your sheep by calling them by name, and you called Nicodemus to yourself by preaching to him the truth. Jesus, you also call out to each of us in quiet prayer, at Mass, and in our neighbor. Often, like Nicodemus, we too are puzzled. We also ask, “How can this happen?” But he rewards our questions, even if the answers are not easy. Jesus, you are the Lord of Life; call us to believe in your eternal life. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Though he was just a poor shepherd boy, St. Bénézet was responsible for a huge public work—the building of a massive bridge.
Bénézet grew up in southeastern France in the middle ages watching his mother’s sheep. He was thoughtful and pious, and seems to have reflected upon the dangers faced by those who wanted to cross the Rhône river.
One day, during a solar eclipse, Bénézet heard a voice that told him to build a bridge over the river at Avignon, a place where the current flowed strong and rapid.
At the time, the building and care of bridges was considered a magnificent public work, and the wealthy often provided for bridges in their wills. Bénézet was an uneducated, poor boy, but he obeyed the voice he had heard.
He traveled to Avignon and addressed the bishop in that city to tell him of his mission. The bishop did not take him seriously, of course, and legend has it that the boy miraculously carried a huge stone himself to begin the foundation.
Soon Bénézet gathered much attention because of miracles attributed to him: blind people could see, disabled people walked, deaf people could hear again. The bishop and civil authorities granted him power to oversee the construction of the bridge, which began in 1177.
Bénézet supervised construction for seven years before he died—by that time the bulk of the difficult work had been accomplished. A chapel was built into the bridge itself and Bénézet’s body was buried there. It lay there for some 500 years until a flood washed part of the bridge away. His tomb was recovered and it was discovered that his body had not decayed; it was moved to a monastery for veneration. What remains today of the Pont Saint-Bénézet is shown here; it is still a pilgrimage site.
In 1189, the Order of Bridge Brothers was established as a society of wealthy sponsors who provided for the construction and maintenance of bridges, and they adopted St. Bénézet as their patron. He remains the patron saint of those who build bridges, and also of bachelors.
St. Bénézet, you were the poor shepherd boy who followed a call to build a massive bridge—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Bénézet is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
