Monday of the Second Week of Easter
April 20, 2020
Today, in Mercy, our readings are filled with the sanctifying unrest of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts we read that, despite the internal peace of the early Christian community, they faced a hostile surrounding environment. Nevertheless, they were impelled by the Spirit within them to continue to proclaim Jesus Christ.
Our Gospel remembers Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Grace burned in him too, but it was a subtle light shaded by his early fear. He came to Jesus in the shadows of the night to test the flame in his soul.
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born from above,
he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Again and again in salvation history, the world is “turned upside down and shaken” by God’s renewing power. We human beings find ourselves struggling to get our feet under us again as circumstances spin to a new truth. Like graceful ballet dancers pirouetting in space, we must keep our eyes on the fixed point of God’s immovable love.
The early disciples did this. Nicodemus did this. As our world now shakes into a changed reality, it is our turn to lock our hearts on God, opening to the new dream God has for all Creation.
Music: Shake – by Mercy Me (You been sittin’ in that chair a while? Here’s a song you can get up and dance-pray!)
