Tuesday - April 13, 2021
“This is a serious warning cry: Surrender without reservation to the Lord who has called us. This is required of us so that the face of the earth may be renewed.”
~Edith Stein
TODAY'S READINGS
April 13, 2021
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
Lectionary: 268
Reading I
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
R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
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
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man must be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
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Experiencing the Spirit of
Communion
Our first reading today shows us what true Christian community is like. Why don't we experience such generous love today within the Church?
We've become very private in our faith. Historically speaking, it started when the people's language evolved beyond Latin and they could no longer understand what the priests said during Mass. The laity began quietly praying the Rosary and other devotions to connect with God while the priest did his liturgical stuff. In some of the larger churches, every side altar had a priest saying his own Mass at the same time. Although everyone came together to worship the Lord, the sense of sharing it as a community was lost.
Community and generosity are closely linked. The generous spirit that the early Christians felt is a natural outgrowth of first noticing a need in someone else and then caring enough to get involved.
What they did for each other wasn't all that amazing. When they sold their property to help others, they didn't make themselves homeless; they distributed what they could according to what was needed. Today, we often do that for family members, but we don't even know what our fellow parishioners need. We certainly don't feel connected to them enough to make sacrifices for them.
Generosity grows from love. The more we love someone, the more we want to be generous with them. Look again at how the first Christians related to one another. See how they were of "one heart and one mind". This doesn't mean they always agreed on everything, because they didn't. Their unity came from caring about each other. Their caring started in the communal worship experience and continued outside of Mass through ongoing interaction.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that to understand the things of heaven, we have to be "begotten of the Holy Spirit". It's one thing to know Jesus personally, but God wants more than that for us, because heaven is so much more. Remember that on Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon a community -- upon a group of people whose lives were intertwined.
Generosity is a sign of a vibrant, healthy community. In heaven, love is everywhere. We call this the communion of saints. Yet we think of "communion" as a private experience of receiving the Eucharist. It's not! It's a coming together, becoming one in community through Christ. We walk up to the minister of the Eucharist as individuals and we return to our pews as a community, i.e., as the communion of saints singing the communion song together. Really! We're supposed to sing, not kneel in silent, private prayer after receiving Communion.
In heaven, we will care about everyone equally and we will be loved fully by everyone. On earth, we cannot attain this love unless we rely on the Spirit of God within us -- the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Communion.
Today's Prayer
Lord, I give You all my senses, all my past, and
all my life that You have entrusted to me. I want and need to be renewed by the
power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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