2nd Week of Easter 2026 - Monday - Born again

Last week, throughout the Easter Octave, we read the different accounts of Jesus' resurrection and his appearances to his disciples from the four Gospels.

For the rest of the Easter Season, we’ll be reading predominately from the Gospel of John—the discussion with Nicodemus this week from chapter 3, the miracle of the multiplication and the great Bread of Life discourse next week, and then his teachings about the Holy Spirit up until Pentecost. 

The central theme of the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus is new life— the biological life that begins in the wombs of our mothers, and the spiritual life that begins in the womb of the Church—a birth of earthly origin and a birth of heavenly origin.

We did not chose to be born biologically, but we certainly have a choice whether or not we will live for what is above. And this choice has eternal ramifications, as the Lord says today, “No one sees the kingdom of God without being born from above”. The refusal of spiritual rebirth will result in the failure to experience the kingdom of God. 

St. Justin martyr, writing just a few decades after St. John, commented on this passage. He wrote, “At our [biological] birth, we were born without our own knowledge or choice by our parents coming together. We were brought up with bad habits and wicked training. However, so that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance but may become the children of choice and knowledge and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over the one who chooses to be born again and has repented of his sins the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe…”

The early Church clearly identified that when the Lord said to Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” he was speaking about the necessity of Baptism—spiritual rebirth involves reception of the Sacraments of the Church. 

And yet, the choice to live for what is above, to live out our spiritual rebirth, to pursue the kingdom of God, is a choice that we must make every day: will we live simply for our biological impulses or for that which is highest. The new life of the Christian entails seeking what is above our fallen disordered impulses—living for the highest ideals—truth, goodness, and beauty, and striving for the highest virtues—cultivating true self-mastery over our disordered passions. 

The Christian is to be open to constant sanctification--the gradual and continuous process whereby we are made more like Christ in character, desire, and action--increasingly reflecting God's character in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

God desires his life to flourish in us, as Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. May we choose the path of being born again day after day, that we may come to experience the fullness of divine life in eternity, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, the pope, bishops, and clergy, that they may govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd leading us faithfully in the Gospel mandate.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

That our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated may hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. 

 

Pentecost 2017 - The Holy Spirit fills the Church

Today we celebrate the great feast of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, the word “Spirit” is used about a thousand times, the Holy Spirit certainly left his mark on the inspired Scriptures. The word “spirit” is a translation of the Hebrew word ru’ach and the Greek word pnue’ma. These words refer to that which gives life to a body—the breath of life.

The body needs the spirit in much the same way a radio or mobile phone needs electricity. As long as electricity runs through the device it will work, when the electricity runs out, the device is unusable, except as a paper-weight.

Having “spirit”, the “breath of life”, is something we humans share with the animals and plants, the living beings. What separates us from the animals and plants, is that part of us that is immortal, the human soul. The soul is that part of us that goes before the judgment seat of Christ when we die, and waits to be rejoined with the body in the resurrection.

We also use the word “spirit” to refer to the purpose that unites a particular group, l’esprit de corps, as the French say. We speak of the “spirit of the American people,”, “team spirit”, “the fighting spirit of the United States Marines”.

St. Paul speaks of the Spirit of the Church in our second reading, but he’s not speaking of a club or group, he’s speaking about something entirely new in the course of history. The Church is not a club, but a living organism; not a building, but a body made up of baptized souls united and filled with the Holy Spirit.

A radio’s purpose is to broadcast news, music, entertainment. The Church’s purpose is to broadcast, as St. Paul says, “Jesus is Lord”. Lebron isn’t Lord, politics isn’t Lord, pop stars aren’t Lords, not even the Pope is Lord, money isn’t Lord, sex isn’t Lord, celebrity and power aren’t Lord. The Holy Spirit enables the Church to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, amidst all the noise and distraction of the world.

The Holy Spirit also animates the Church to engage in many kinds of service: we feed the hungry, we clothe the naked, we call sinners to repentance, and instruct the ignorant, we go out to the lost and forsaken, the addict, the imprisoned, and help them to know the comfort of God. And yet the Church is more than a secular charitable organization, She’s an organism of Love, concerned not simply for earthly welfare, but the eternal soul.

She speaks the truth when no one else will, when the world is against her, in and out of season. She comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, speaks truth to power, and suffers for the sake of righteousness.

St. Paul also says the Holy Spirit produces many different kinds of spiritual gifts, what are known as the charismata, the spiritual charisms: some members of the Church are blessed with gifts for preaching, gifts for teaching, gifts for comforting, gifts for organizing, gifts for fundraising, gifts for hard-labor, gifts for grand visions, and gifts for minute details, gifts for healing. What is your unique gift? Is it being used to build up the Church?

There are also the seven Spiritual Gifts given to every baptized soul. In each and every member of the Church, the Spirit produces wisdom which helps us desire God over the things of the earth; Understanding, which helps us to grasp the divine truths of our faith, knowledge; which helps us to see God’s plan in the events of our life and use the things of creation in a way that will lead us to heaven; counsel, which helps us to judge how best to act in the circumstances that confront us in our daily life; fortitude, which helps us to remain sturdy against the temptations and challenges in the Christian life; piety, which fills us with love affection for God and enables us to experience joy in prayer and service; and fear of the Lord which helps us to be conscious that the eye of God is watching us always, helping us to be mindful that we will all face judgment for the choice we’ve made in our life.

The seven-fold gifts are given to every Christian, but to grow in them, we must nurture them through the practices of the spiritual life. This is why there are wise octogenarians and foolish octogenarians, young people who are wise for their age, and young people who…well, don’t have a clue.
What is animating your life? The Spirit of God or the spirits of the world. When we are cooperating with the Spirit of God he produces the good spiritual fruits of gentleness, self-control, meekness, patience, and temperance. When we are indulging in the spirits of the world there is recklessness, irascibility, perversion, addiction, greed, anger, envy, jealousy, pride.

How do we become so filled with these worldly spirits? Part of it is how we spend our time: inordinate time with entertainment, social media, insufficient time studying and praying with the Word of God, undue focus on selfish pursuits, rather than service. These things have spiritual consequences.
In the Gospel reading for Pentecost, Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit through whom sins are forgiven. To be free from the spirits of the world, we must turn our souls over to God in the sacraments. In Sacramental Confession we name those spirits that we might be delivered from them.

In the solemn ritual of exorcism, in which a soul held captive by a demonic spirit is liberated through the power of Christ, before deliverance can occur, the demonic spirit must be named. The need for solemn exorcism is extraordinary and rare. But Christians must face and name the unclean spirits which seek the ruin of our souls, by naming them, by bringing them to Christ in Sacramental Confession, by turning away from the near occasions of sin, and by strengthening the weak parts of our souls through prayer and acts of charity.

On this great Feast of Pentecost, as the Easter Season comes to a close and Ordinary Time begins again, we recognize how the Holy Spirit wants to produce new a glorious effects in our lives. He wants to help us take up new modes of serving those in need, the physically poor and the spiritually poor. He wants to produce in us new charisms for the building up of the Church. He wants to deepen in us the seven-fold gifts. He wants to help us to be cleansed of the unclean spirits of the world. He wants to do all these things and more, that we may proclaim to all the world “Jesus is Lord” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.