Weekend of March 10, 2024

Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. (Jeremiah 7:23)

This past week we had a parish mission with the Missionaries of the Word. This beautiful group of Sisters led our parish each day for three days in Lectio Divina. Their deep love of Jesus in His Holy Word is inspiring. I sat down with this weekends readings on Monday, and Wednesday, and Thursday. Frustrated I went to church early this morning and shared with Jesus that I want each of you to know Him as I know Him, but that I felt that what I was ‘coming up with’ fell short. What I felt Jesus tell me, as I pondered what to bring to you this week in Lectio, was that the voice I was sharing was my own and not the Lord’s. Sitting in church with Jesus, an inspiration struck and expanded. Mother Mary Catherine encourages us to start with the Gospel because it is in the gospel that we encounter Jesus in his humanity. This week in Lectio I bring you this weeks Gospel “in entirety” allowing that to spark your conversation and be the sole focus. This weeks Gospel is a snippet of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus; I bring you the whole conversation. I am going to pass on some of the wisdom of Mother Mary Catherine to aid in your prayer. First, read the gospel slowly (you have heard this from me before). Second, read the gospel out loud. When we read the gospel out loud the “hearing” aids our spiritual “hearing.” Third, pay attention to Jesus. It is Jesus we are seeking to know, it is Jesus who we must pay attention to. What is He saying? How is He saying it? Why is He saying it? These are our questions in prayer to Him. Lastly, When a phrase, sentence, or word catches your eye, ear, or heart…STOP. Stop where the Lord asks you to and sit with that word, phrase, or sentence. “Jesus, what do you want me to hear from you right now? What is important for me here?” Without further ado, I bring you Jesus and Nicodemus.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

I believe that the reason I was inspired to share Nicodemus’ whole conversation is because Nicodemus demonstrates for each of us the art of Lectio Divina. Nicodemus sought a quiet conversation one-on-one with Jesus. This is the call of Lectio, to find a quiet place and time where it can just be the two of us. Nicodemus listened to the Lord speak and he stopped him when something stood out. Nicodemus asked Jesus the extra questions seeking to understand what Jesus meant. One last thing about this encounter stood out to me in regards to Lectio, Nicodemus has but three short lines in this exchange while Jesus speaks relative volumes. Our prayer and Lectio should reflect this as well. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

Here are some of the questions that this gospel raised in my own prayer:

The light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light. Lord, where in my life do I still prefer darkness? Where in my life am I emitting your light?

Because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. What does it look like to believe in the name of Jesus? How do I use the name of Jesus? What does His name mean to me when I hear it? I think of media (movies and tv) and the way Jesus’ holy name is used, in horror and anger more often than not. How we use His name, if we even use His name, can be a reflection of Who He is to us.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in Hi might not perish but might have eternal life. One of the most quoted lines of scripture. The danger of being oft quoted is that we can become numb to the message. This scripture brings to mind another scripture, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8) For God so loved the world. God is eternally holding us in love. He is eternally offering Jesus to us. Lent is meant to be a recall. We are called to recall that “God so loves me that He have His only son.” God so loves me. How will I respond?