Today's Gospel

Do You Hide Your Faith?

Welcome back to Radical & Relevant. I'm Matthew Kelly. It's a pleasure each day, an honor to take a few moments with you to read the gospel, reflect on the gospel. What a great way to start our day. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." And Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel," that I said to you, "You must be born anew. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of 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."

So we had this great encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus in today's reading. And Nicodemus is a Jewish leader, but he's obviously fascinated with Jesus. He obviously has a good heart. He's seeking the truth. He's trying to work it out. You can see he's trying to work it out. You can see from his questions. He's trying to work it out. And of course, you think about what his peers are saying to him. They're saying, "We've got to kill Jesus." They're saying Jesus is blaspheming. They're saying Jesus is from Satan. They're saying all these things against Jesus. And Nicodemus, who is one of their peers, comes to Jesus in the night. And so for me, I think, let's think about that today. Let's think about that today. Let's think about Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night. Why? Well, he doesn't want anyone to know. And particularly, he doesn't want the scribes and the Pharisees to know his colleagues, his peers, that he's visiting Jesus. And I think there are times in our lives when, just like Nicodemus, we want to come to Jesus in secret. I think there are times in our lives when just like Nicodemus, we want to hide our relationship with Jesus. And I think today is an opportunity to reflect on that.

How open, how honest, how transparent are we about our relationship with the Lord? When do we try to play it down? Do we ever try to hide it? And if we do, why do we try to play it down? Or why do we try to hide it? And what's behind that? Or what are we afraid of? And how do we strengthen our faith so that we can stand side by side with Jesus in every situation of our lives, be honest and transparent about our friendship with the Lord. Have a great day. Remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.