Word of the day

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 4:32-37

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.

From the Gospel according to John
Jn 3:7b-15

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."

To be born from above is to be born with the strength of the Holy Spirit. We cannot keep the Holy Spirit for ourselves; we can only allow Him to transform us. And our docility opens the door to the Holy Spirit; it is He who changes us, who works this transformation in us, this rebirth from on high. This is the promise that Jesus makes: to send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is capable of wondrous things that we cannot even imagine. An example is this first Christian community, which is not a fantasy, this is what they say here: it is a model, at which we can arrive when there is docility and one allows the Holy Spirit to enter and to transform. An ideal community, let’s say. It is true that immediately after this, problems begin, but the Lord makes us see up to what point we can arrive if we are open to the Holy Spirit, if we are docile. There is harmony in this community. The Holy Spirit is the master of harmony; He is capable of making it, and He has made it happen here. It is what needs to happen in our hearts, many things in us must change to create harmony, because He Himself is harmony. Also the harmony between the Father and the Son: it is He, the love of harmony. And He, with harmony, creates these things such as this community, which was so harmonious. But then, history tells us - the same Book of the Acts of the Apostles - of many problems in the community. This is a model: the Lord has permitted this model of an almost “heavenly” community, to make us see where we should arrive. (Santa Marta, 21 April 2020)