Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

Lectionary: 268

"'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."

In his conversation with Nicodemus the Lord draws a sharp distinction between those who are born of the Spirit and those who are not. The uninspired do not understand the Lord's inspired disciples when they speak of ordinary, earthly things; they're clueless when they hear of heavenly things. 

When hurt or wronged, the uninspired want revenge and are convinced of their righteousness. They may speak of consequences when they consider what the enemy has done to them; but they think that further aggression "will send a message." Perhaps it will be, "Don't tread on me." But they don't know what the message really is, nor do they anticipate the consequences of their revenge, unless it's escalating violence. Eager to restore the past, they embark on a mission that will render the past both lost and forgotten.

The inspired are that remnant of the faithful who understand the impulse to revenge but set it aside in the interests of justice and mercy. If they are so angry as to want revenge they surrender that to the Lord's just mercy and let him do it. He who lives in eternity and sees the long lasting consequences of every action will decide what is just. He will restore that which should be restored, and demolish that which should be destroyed. And he will guide his faithful as new things come to pass. 

But more often the inspired let their anger subside as they consider the evil their enemies have done in the light of their own sins. We are all the enemy; we commit sins; we're children of Eve. If there is a difference between the inspired and the uninspired, between those who are driven by invisible movements of wind of mercy and those who are not, that too is invisible. 

With the Second Vatican Council, the Church began to see more clearly that true disciples of the Lord live in the world but are not of the world. Despite our appeals to reason, not everyone will understand our vision, nor will they foresee what appears so obvious to us. 

As the "liberal" society embraces divorce, abortion, gay marriage, transsexualism, and suicide; and a conservative society embraces capital punishment, censorship, and guns; and both rely on greater power to promote their programs: the Church finds itself set apart from both. 

The faithful must continually teach our children our history and traditions. If they never learn to "Eat this...; Drink this...; and Do this in memory of me!" the world will suffer an irreparable loss. It's condemnation will be irreversible. Humanity will disappear from the earth and the Universe will be left with no memory of a Savior. 

But God's Spirit blows where it will, and will never cease to generate new believers even from the dust of the earth. They might not be the elite of society. They might be like Russian widows who were supposed to die out and quit frequenting the Russian churches. In fact, they kept coming until long after the tyrant was dead. God can raise up believers from these very stones, 

With our memories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph -- living memories that are practically prehistoric -- we can take the long view of history. The Church is certainly challenged during this 21st century. But we've always had our backs to the wall; we've always had to call on God our Savior to calm the troubled sea and lead us through the wilderness of this most unfortunate world. There's nothing new about that. 

The day will come when everyone will see the Son of Man lifted up, and they will know him: 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God,