Nicodemus, one of the rulers of the Jewish people, comes to Jesus at night to ask him some questions. He comes at night because he is afraid. He does not want people know that he has come to Jesus to learn from him. Their conversation soon turns to being born again, being born of water and the spirit. Well, we all know as Catholics, that the term “born again” has a certain meaning within Evangelical Christian circles. But, even though we Catholics do not use that term in the same way, we do see ourselves as being born again in the sacrament of baptism, as we go into the waters of baptism, die with Christ, and then rise to new life in him. What about being born in the spirit? We sometimes find it difficult to talk about the Holy Spirit in concrete terms. Sometimes the Spirit comes to us in very strong profound ways, just as in the first reading, when Peter and John are gathered with the people, the presence of the Holy Spirit is so strong that the whole earth shakes. Yet, we can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in a lot of different ways in our lives. During the pandemic, we here at St Jude have felt the Holy Spirit calling out to us in different ways to reach out to our flock as the Spirit helps us feel God’s presence in our lives. Being open to the Spirit begins with a life of prayer. It begins with reading Sacred Scripture and studying the faith. It is not difficult. But it does take commitment and persistence.
Celebrating Mass at the Carmelite monastery today, I would be remiss if I did not mention the saint we celebrate today - St Teresa of the Andes, who was a Carmelite nun who died on this date (April 12) at the age of 19 in 1920 in the country of Chile in South America. She is the first saint canonized from that devoutly Catholic country. Pope John Paul II named her as a patron saint of the youth. At her canonization in 1993, Pope John Paul II spoke about her joyful youthful enthusiasm and the great example of faith she gives to the youth of our modern era. We pray for our youth in the Diocese of Jackson and ask for her prayers for them. She wrote in a letter: "A soul united to Jesus and identified with him can do everything. It seems to me that this can be reached only by prayer.” She also wrote: “I am God’s. He created me and is my beginning and my end.” She died of typhus during Holy Week. More than 100,000 pilgrims visit her shrine each year. We unite our prayers to the intercessions of St Teresa of the Andes today.
