Daily Gospel Reflection

Be Like the Wind

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of Jesus, the gospels, Catholicism, and looking for a way to anchor our day in the Gospel. Today's reading is from John. It's from chapter 3:7-15. Immediately before this reading, Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night. And we're catching the second part of this encounter. When Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night, Jesus says to him, "You have to be born anew." And of course, this reading is the origins of born-again Christians or that idea of being born again. And obviously, it has been interpreted in very many different ways throughout the ages by the Catholic Church and by many other churches. We experience that rebirth in baptism, and obviously many other Christians interpret it differently.

Jesus said, "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound on it. 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 said to him, "How can this be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand this. Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."

Did you pick up a word or a phrase or an idea? Every day we're just looking for this word, this phrase, this idea. Again, we see powerful mentions of the Spirit. We see Jesus illustrating the power of the Spirit. But what really struck me here today is Jesus says, "The wind blows where it wills. You hear the sound of it, but you don't know where it comes from and you don't know where it goes." And then he says, "And so it is of everyone who is born of the Spirit." So if we're born of the Spirit, we're inviting the Spirit to come into our lives in powerful ways. We're not necessarily going to know where we're coming from or where we're going to. And that goes so counter to the way we live our lives, constantly making plans, constantly making plans, constantly telling God our plans. And what does Jesus say? He says, "The wind blows where it wills. You don't know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

And so I think today I hear in that a great invitation to surrender my plans and to ask God to reveal His plans. Have an amazing day. Remember, be bold, be Catholic.