20210413 MARKS OF A COMMUNITY BORN OF THE SPIRIT
13 April, 2021, Tuesday, 2nd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 4:32-37 © |
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul
The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.
The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.
None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.
There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 92(93):1-2,5 © |
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;
the Lord has robed himself with might,
he has girded himself with power.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
The world you made firm, not to be moved;
your throne has stood firm from of old.
From all eternity, O Lord, you are.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your house,
O Lord, until the end of time.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Rv1:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You, O Christ, are the faithful witness,
the First-born from the dead,
you have loved us and have washed away our sins with your blood.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn3:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man must be lifted up
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 3:7-15 © |
No-one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man who has come down from heaven
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘Do not be surprised when I say:
You must be born from above.
The wind blows wherever it pleases;
you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’
‘How can that be possible?’ asked Nicodemus. ‘You, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things!’ replied Jesus.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
we speak only about what we know
and witness only to what we have seen
and yet you people reject our evidence.
If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world,
how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’
MARKS OF A COMMUNITY BORN OF THE SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 4:32-37; PS 93:1-2,5; JOHN 3:7-15 ]
We can empathize with Nicodemus’s faith struggle. He was a Pharisee, trained in the scriptures and the laws. He was a member of the Sanhedrin and was looked up to by the ordinary Jews as a leader in faith. He was supposed to know everything about the Jewish Faith and about God. Yet, in his personal life, he knew that in spite of practicing the Jewish Faith, something was lacking in his life. He had no real experience of God other than observing the laws meticulously. He wanted so much to touch Him and feel Him. And that was why he came to Jesus by night because he saw in Jesus someone who knew God personally by His teaching and the signs that He performed. Indeed, Nicodemus was just like the woman at Samaria, hungering for something more.
Many of us are just like Nicodemus. This is particularly so if we are priests, religious or teachers of faith. We are supposed to have the answers to the questions that people raise about our faith, doctrines and spiritual life. We can even provide them with the right answers based on our studies and research. But all these are merely on the intellectual level. We talk about God, the liturgy and about spiritual life in the most lofty and inspiring terms, but of ourselves, we have not yet experienced what we teach. We feel hypocritical and diffident, sometimes wondering whether what we teach is real or not.
Jesus made it clear that we need to be born again from above if we are to know what the Kingdom of God is like. (Jn 3:3)Nicodemus like us, was still operating on the logical level when he asked the Lord, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” (Jn 3:4) To this question, the Lord said, “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.” (Jn 3:5f) In other words, to encounter God in His kingdom requires that we have the Spirit of God in us. Indeed, in the gospel, Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.” Encountering God is not through some logical thinking but feeling the effects of the Spirit at work in our lives.
Having aroused Nicodemus’ desire to be born again, Nicodemus asked, “How can that be possible?” It demands that we have faith in Jesus who by His death and resurrection established Himself as Lord and who after His ascension sent us the Holy Spirit. Only Christ can lead us to His Father because only He has seen the Father. He said, “We speak only about what we know and witness only to what we have seen and yet you people reject our evidence.” St John wrote in the prologue, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) Truly, as the Lord asserted, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven; and the Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” The proof that Christ knows the Father and have the authority to speak about Him is vindicated by His exaltation on the cross and at the resurrection and the ascension when He was raised up on the throne of glory. The responsorial psalm confirms the kingship of Christ when we acclaim, “The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed; the Lord has robed himself with might! He has girded himself with power.” Faith in Christ is the key to being born again. As the apostles declared, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
How do we know we are born again? How do we know that we have encountered the Lord deeply in the Spirit? The visible effects of being born in the Spirit can be felt and seen. The early Christians in the first reading demonstrates to us the marks of a community reborn in the Spirit. “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul.” When we are united in the Holy Spirit, we are in communion with each other. This is why we say that the Church is a communion, with the Holy Trinity and among ourselves. At the beginning of every mass, we say, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” If we are gathered together it is because we have received the grace and love of God which unite us together in the Holy Spirit. Unity among Christians is a sign that we possess the Spirit of God.
When there is division, it is clearly the Evil One that is at work in us. St Paul wrote, “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:20f) This is why we must be watchful of division in the community created by selfish ambition and gossip which are destructive. (Jms 3:14-16) We see this happening in our parishes, church organizations and even among clergy and religious.
Secondly, the community is caring and supportive of each other. No one claims to be more important than the rest. All are treated equally. In the early Church, so united were they in the Holy Spirit and in Christ that “no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.” They cared for each other and not just themselves. As a consequence, “None of their members was ever in want.” The desire to share and live in communion was so intense that “all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.”
We wonder whether such a community could be possible? Even in religious communities, when things are supposed to be shared in common, there is a temptation to have more than the others. Greed and the desire to have more not only exist among the rich but also the poor. What more if we bring this virtue of sharing in the Christian community. The fact remains that there are Christians who are very poor and some very rich. Whilst, we do not expect everyone to sell all they have and give to the community, it is important that we support each other as much as we can, according to what the Lord has given to us, sharing our resources and gifts with those who have less. The ability to share generously and freely, living a life without any form of attachment is indeed a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, we are told that witnessing is the consequence of being born in the Spirit. We read that “the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.” When we have encountered the Lord Jesus personally, we cannot but desire to share Him with others, like the apostles in the Acts of the Apostles. They could not stop proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Saviour even when persecuted or opposed. Announcing the Lord as Risen not just in words but in our transformed life of love, forgiveness and charity is the way to witness to Christ’s resurrection.
We have the exemplary example of Barnabas who was selfless in giving himself to the community and always a person of encouragement. “He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.” He is the ideal example of a person testifying to the resurrection of our Lord by being born in the Spirit, a man who promotes unity, sharing and giving. If we have not yet arrived at what we should be as a Christian born again, then let us be patient with ourselves and with others. Most of us like Nicodemus would take time to search, grow and come to full maturity in faith in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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