Monday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts
4:23-31; John 3:1-8)
In a movie,
an old gang of friends have entered adulthood.
One of them has already married, and another is about to. However, they are still drawn to the caprices
of adolescent years. The drama reaches a
climax when one of the gang plans to seduce his friend’s wife. Fortunately, the young man’s conscience wins
out. The movie demonstrates how the imprudent
impulses of youth can tempt people into adulthood and beyond. In doing so, it illustrates what Jesus
teaches Nicodemus in today’s gospel.
Nicodemos
is perplexed when Jesus says that one must be born again to see the Kingdom of
God. Jesus means that a person needs the
Holy Spirit if she or he is to love others as he loves. Without the Holy Spirit people are likely to
see others as adolescents often do. At
best, they will treat others as competitors to be rivaled. At worst, they will exploit them as prey to
their selfish desires. The Spirit
enables the person to see others as brothers and sisters with God as Father.
We might
think that with years the imprudent impulses of teens disappear. They hopefully lessen, but they do not fade
completely. We must continually petition
the Father to send His Spirit upon us if we are to love as Jesus loved.
