April 19, 2004 - Monday, 2nd Week of Easter

SPEAKING GOD'S WORD BOLDLY

Readings:
Acts 4:23-31; Ps 2:1-3, 4-7a, 7b-9; Jn 3:1-8

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 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?

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: 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

R (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 (see 11d) 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 (see 11d) 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 (see 11d) Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. Or: R Alleluia.

Gospel Reading: Jn 3:1-8

Among the Pharisees there was a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you have come from God to teach us, for no one can perform miraculous signs like yours unless God is with him."

Jesus replied, "Truly, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again from above."

Nicodemus said, "How can there be rebirth for a grown man? Who could go back to his mother's womb and be born again?" Jesus replied, "Truly, I say to you: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Because of this, don't be surprised when I say: 'You must be born again from above.'

"The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Commentary

JOHN'S gospel favors a particular idiom. Though in the first chapter he had said, "the Word was made flesh," he can say in today's reading, "What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit." It has been characterized as a Neo-Platonist coloring: that is, a way of seeing and thinking that owes much to Greek philosophy and culture. His dualism is part of this picture.

Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the greatest of 20th-century theologians, wrote that the mediaeval mystics never entirely freed themselves from the Neo-Platonic legacy (and that in fact Thérèse of Lisieux was the first). Yet there is a medieval, Julian of Norwich, who can write like this:
"When our soul is breathed into our body, bringing our senses to life, then mercy and grace immediately begin to work, caring for us and protecting us with pity and love. At the same time the Holy Spirit takes our faith and in it forms the hope that when we have grown and become mature in the Holy Spirit, we shall return to our essential being above, to the powerful goodness of Christ. In this way I understood that our physical nature is grounded in God's nature, mercy, and grace-a grounding which enables us to receive gifts that lead us on to eternal life. I saw with absolute certainty that our being is in God. What is more, I saw that God is in our physical nature, too. From the beginning of time God ordained that the moment we became physical beings, at that same moment we would become the city of God."

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.

General 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 who have been 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 he Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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