FRI—APRIL 14, 2026
Papal Homily Excerpt
Gospel Commentary
Today’s Gospel in Context
The context: Today’s Gospel is the continuation of the night visit of Nicodemus with Jesus. Nicodemus was a rich Jewish rabbi and one of the seventy members of Sanhedrin. He wanted to clarify whether the obeying of the Mosaic Law and the offering of prescribed sacrifices were enough for one’s eternal salvation. But Jesus used the occasion as a teachable moment, showing Nicodemus the necessity for a spiritual rebirth through the action of the Holy Spirit by means of the water of Baptism as an essential condition for one’s salvation.
Jesus showed Nicodemus the effects the Holy Spirit produces in the souls of the baptized. We know the presence, force, and direction of wind by its effects. It is so with the Holy Spirit, the Divine “Breath” (pneuma), given us in Baptism. In Hebrew and Aramaic, the scholars tell us, the same word, pneuma, means “spirit,” “breath,” and “wind.” We do not know how the Holy Spirit comes to penetrate one’s heart. But He makes His presence felt by the change in the conduct of one who receives Him. Jesus further explains that he himself comes from Heaven, and, hence, his teaching is credible. Then, by comparing how God saved the snake-bitten Israelites through the symbol of the bronze serpent, Jesus tells Nicodemus that “the Son of Man” is going to save mankind by his death on the cross.
Life Messages
Life message: We need to adjust our ways of living, recognizing and making full use of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives: 1) We need to begin every day by asking for His Divine strength and guidance and end every day by asking His pardon and forgiveness for our sins. 2) We need, as well, to pray for His daily anointing and for His gifts, fruits, and charisms so that we may live as children of God. 3) We also need to throw open the shutters and let the Spirit enter the narrow caves in which we bury ourselves. Fr. Tony((http://frtonyshomilies.com/)L/26
SOURCE: Fr. Tony’s Homilies
Carmelites
Nicodemus and the Encounter with the Newness of Jesus
Today’s Gospel speaks about the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus had heard people speak about the things Jesus did, and he was struck, surprised. He wishes to speak with Jesus to be able to understand better.
He thought he knew the things of God. He lived with the booklet of the past in his hand to see if this agreed with the newness announced by Jesus. In the conversation, Jesus says that the only way in which Nicodemus could understand the things of God was to be born again!
Sometimes we are like Nicodemus: we only accept as something new what agrees with our old ideas. Other times, we allow ourselves to be surprised by facts and we are not afraid to say, “I am born anew!”
Context of the Early Christian Communities
When the Evangelists recall the last words of Jesus, they have in mind the problems of the communities for which they write. Nicodemus’ questions to Jesus reflect the questions of the communities of Asia Minor at the end of the first century. For this reason, Jesus’ answers to Nicodemus were, at the same time, a response to the problems of those communities.
At that time, the Christians followed the catechesis in this way. Most probably, the account of the conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus formed part of the baptismal catechesis, because He says that the people must be reborn of water and the Spirit (Jn 3: 5).
Being Born of the Spirit and the Liberty of the Wind
- John 3: 7b-8: Born from above, born anew, again, and born of the Spirit. In Greek, the same word means anew, again and from above. Jesus had said, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit” (Jn 3: 5). And He adds, “What is born of human nature, is human (flesh); what is born of the Spirit is Spirit” (Jn 3: 6).
Here “flesh” means that which is born only from our own ideas. What is born from us has our own mark, our own measure. To be born of the Spirit is another thing! And Jesus once again reaffirms what He had said before: “One has to be born from above (born again).” That is, one must be reborn of the Spirit who comes from above.
He explains that the Spirit is like the wind. Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the same word is used to say spirit and wind. Jesus says, “The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The wind has within it a direction. We are aware of the direction of the wind, for example, the wind of the North and the wind of the South, but we do not know nor do we control the cause why the wind moves in one direction or another.
The Spirit is like this. “No one is the master of the Spirit” (Eccl 8: 8). That which best characterizes the wind, the Spirit, is liberty. The wind, the Spirit, is free; it cannot be controlled. It acts on others, and nobody can act on it. Its origin is the mystery; its destiny is the mystery. The fisherman has, in the first place, to discover the direction of the wind. Then he should place the sails according to that direction. This is what Nicodemus should do and what all of us should do.
The Struggle to Understand the Action of God
- John 3: 9: Question of Nicodemus: How is that possible? Jesus does nothing more than summarize what the Old Testament taught concerning the action of the Spirit, of the holy wind, in the life of the People of God and which Nicodemus, Teacher and Doctor, should know. And just the same, Nicodemus is frightened in hearing Jesus’ response and acts as if he was ignorant: “How is that possible?”
Perfect Faith Through Witness
John 3: 10-15: Jesus’ answer: Faith comes from witness and not from miracle. Jesus changes the question: “You are the Teacher of Israel and you do not know these things?” For Jesus, if people believe only when things are according to their own arguments and ideas, then faith is not perfect. Faith is perfect when it is the faith of one who believes because of the witness. He leaves aside his own arguments and gives himself, because he believes in the one giving witness.
SOURCE: www.ocarm.org
