April 16, 2026
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Gospel: John 3:31-36

Today is Thursday of the Second Week of Easter. The Gospel for the Mass is taken from the Gospel of St. John, where St. John reflects on the testimony given by St. John the Baptist about Jesus. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

That which comes from heaven is the Word of God. As St. John says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God”(cf. Jn 1:1-2). His knowledge and experience are all that the Father has revealed to Him. As Jesus Himself said: “The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing”(cf. Jn 5:19-20).

Those who do not accept His testimony are the Jews of Jesus’ time. The Jews of that era longed not for a religious Messiah, but for a political Messiah who would deliver them from Roman rule and restore their nation. When we judge the words of Jesus by worldly standards, we become like those who do not accept His testimony.

Those who accept His testimony are those born from above, born of water and the Holy Spirit—those who worship God in spirit and truth. As Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above”(cf. Jn 3:3) and “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit”(cf. Jn 3:5). Also, as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth… God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”(cf. Jn 4:23-24).

Today, let us follow the example of St. John, courageously accepting the Word of God and bearing witness to it.

O God, who for the salvation of the world brought about the paschal sacrifice, be favourable to the supplications of your people, so that Christ our High Priest, interceding on our behalf, may by his likeness to ourselves bring us reconciliation, and by his equality with you free us from our sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica