Force is always, and everywhere, a sign of fear—that is, a sign of weakness. Behind the vast armies and navies which we call the great powers of the world, there is fear. Fear it is that drives us out to war. Fear is the father of ferocity, and the forger of the sword. From the Creative point of view, which is God’s point of view, force is weakness, and only Love is power.
... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Wicket Gate [1923]
(Surrendering fear to Love: what would this mean for you today?)
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Acts 4:32-37; Psalm 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5
Jn 3:7b-15
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.”
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Reflection on the Scriptures
Today's first reading from Acts and the Gospel of John complement one another. Acts recounts a community where all was held in common and no person was in need for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles. Is it possible to detach oneself from pursuit of things? If we know things will never make us happy (even if that larger
house is sure nice to have) how do we navigate this world and, as Jesus puts it to Nicodemus, be born from above?
A source of helpful and centering reflection for me of late has been a contemporary interpretation of the first principle and foundation from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by David Fleming, SJ. It reads, in part:
The goal of our life is to live with God forever... We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in God.
The Easter season celebrates Jesus' resurrection. Jesus' saving act was guided by his deepest desire for communion with his Father and with us. So what do you seek? What do you desire? Trust that God is already at work - and has always been at work - through your deepest longings. Even if you have yet to realize them, God knows them and wants you to know them as well.
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Two
Article 3: He Was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and Born of the Virgin Mary
Paragraph 1: The Son of God Became Man
VIII. THE HEART OF THE INCARNATE WORD
478 Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me."116 He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation,117 "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer
continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception.118
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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