WEDNESDAY REFLECTION
Mid-week Reflection
14th April 2021
I suspect that most priests, most of the time, preach about the Gospel, rather than the reading. During Eastertide, however, the opposite is probably the case. We speak, not so much about the Gospel, but turn our attention to the Acts of the Apostles which is so captivating and exciting as it tells the story of the burgeoning early church. It’s so much easier to speak bout the Acts especially when the alternative is that deeply theological document, The Gospel of John.
So guess what….I am turning my attention to John! If you were at Holy Mass yesterday, you would have heard his account of the post-Resurrection dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. The work of a teacher is to teach! That is, to share knowledge and a love of knowledge with pupils so that they can grasp the truth that is being offered to them. The best teacher convinces pupils by living what he or she teaches. That’s what Jesus did. He came from the secrets of Heaven to the streets of the Earth. That’s the mystery! However, it can happen that a particular boy or girl does not want to understand, does not want to be taught, refuses to accept and understand.
Nicodemus in questioning Jesus about rebirth…about being re-born again…should have accepted and understood the message. After all, he was steeped in the scriptures which often refer to taking on a new heart and a new spirit. Some people do not listen. Some listen but do not learn. Some are unwilling to hear because it makes demands on them. The Navarre Bible speaks of physical birth as “the paternity which engenders to death and baptism as the paternity which engenders to life.” But in spite of what we know to be true we can be unwilling to change our ways or to be changed.
That was Nicodemus. At this stage he is not open to a new birth…to a re-creation. He does not want to change, or, perhaps, is afraid to do so. An alcoholic once said to me, “You have a car and I don’t. That’s not fair.” I said to him, “But don’t you realise that you have drunk two BMW’s?” I’m not claiming that that changed him but he did eventually give up the drinking and got something even better than a BMW. He got his faith back and died in the arms of the Lord. A whole new world opened for him as it had for Nicodemus. What a change that was!
Monsignor Monaghan
