Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
ONE HEART AND ONE MIND
Introduction
We know from our disappointing experiences how difficult it is to be a real community. We have different personalities with different ideas, attitudes and potentials. The great obstacle is we ourselves: we want people to go our way, and we impose our own views. In our Christian communities, there is one who can unite us in himself. It is Jesus, our model and our Lord. We believe that we come together here in his name and for his sake. He is alive and present among us. He brings us together in one faith and one love. It is a lifelong task. Can we be one heart and one soul in him?
Opening Prayer
All praise and thanks be to you,
Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
You have given us your risen Son
to be alive in our communities.
Make us see him with eyes of faith,
that he may unite us, heart and soul.
May his dynamic presence among us
move us to become with him,
each other’s bread of life,
that no one among us may hunger
for food or help when in need.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: Acts 4:32-37
The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the Apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the Apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.
Thus Joseph, also named by the Apostles Barnabas
(which is translated “”son of encouragement””),
a Levite, a Cypriot by birth,
sold a piece of property that he owned,
then brought the money and put it at the feet of the Apostles.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 93:1ab, 1cd-2,5
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia: Jn 3:14-15
The Son of Man must be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Jn 3:7b-15
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘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.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Intercessions
– Risen Lord, be greater and stronger than our divisions. Unite all those who believe in you, we pray:
– Risen Lord, you have given your people a new heart. In our communities, make us one heart and one soul, we pray:
– Risen Lord, that the best witnessing we give to you may be that we accept one another and care for one another and serve one another, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our God and Father,
we ask you for food and drink
and you give us your Son.
May no one in our communities go hungry
or feel abandoned when in distress,
but may we learn from your Son Jesus
to be faithful companions to all who need us.
With our solace and support,
may we also give them ourselves,
as Jesus did and still does for us,
he who is our Lord for ever.
Prayer after Communion
God, our Father,
we have encountered your Son Jesus in faith
in this Eucharistic celebration.
With him by our side,
may we be a deeply believing community
in which love and sharing
are no empty words,
a community which keeps dreaming
that we can find one another
and create a new future together
through him, in whom we have been reborn,
Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord for ever.
Blessing
One heart and one soul. How dare we say so? We are still far away from this demand of our faith. But we keep hoping. Keep also growing toward it, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reflection:
9 April 2024
John 3:7-15
Cross is the antidote to the poison of sin
Today’s Gospel passage is part of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. Nicodemus is presented as the representative of all those who were tied up in their traditions and customs. He was a reputed rabbi, but his reputation and qualifications prevented him from walking out of the darkness of the wrong traditions and customs into the light of Jesus. The newness of life offered by Jesus was beyond his understanding. The prophets of Israel had consistently challenged the futility of their scrupulous observance of the Thora while refusing justice, compassion and love for the brethren.
Nicodemus would fade from the scene at least temporarily until we see him again at the burial of Jesus. The dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus would now turn into a monologue of Jesus.
Though placed on the lips of Jesus, the actual discourse is the composition of the evangelist. He wrote the Gospel around the year 90 – i.e., over five decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He speaks as a disciple of Jesus and as a member of the Spirit-filled community, and he had experienced the new birth promised by Jesus. He experienced exclusion from the Jewish religious system and had lived with fellow members of the community of believers whose lives had radically changed ever since they had been born from above, as Jesus told Nicodemus.
Today, the Gospel invites us to be born again, to leave the old that is in us. When this happens, the Holy Spirit fills the vacuum in us, and the miracle occurs. New birth in the Spirit would be birth to eternal life, a way of living within the material world but as children of God.
The incident about the snake in the desert had been recorded in the Book of Numbers, and it had occurred while the Israelites were wandering through the desert of Sinai before they arrived the Promised Land. In the community of John, the symbol of the snake raised on the pole evidently became a cherished symbol, helping them better understand Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Gospel brings us hope – a hope that tells us that there is something more beautiful and profitable on the other side of our struggles in life. Our various life experiences are our baptism through which we will be born again. And in this journey, keep our gaze fixed on the Cross – which is the only antidote for the poison of sinfulness.