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
April 15, 2026 Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter Gospel: John 3:16-21
Today is Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter. The Gospel for Mass is taken from the reflections of John in the Gospel of Saint John, following the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus about rebirth and new life.
The world we live in today is filled with various emotions that flow from the depths of the human heart. Among these complex and changeable emotions, some are aspirations for a better future, some are longings for the heavenly homeland, but more often, they are evil thoughts: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness (see: Mark 7:21-22). In our view, as people living in this world, we are inevitably influenced by all that belongs to it, and this becomes an excuse for us to make arbitrary judgments of others. So much so that we may even think: the God spoken of by Jesus is a just God, who came into the world to condemn each of us, rejoicing in passing judgment.
John testifies: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). By the grace granted by Christ, we are freed from sin and death through receiving the Baptism of Christ, no longer living in the death that sin brings to our souls. Since we are united with Him through receiving the Baptism of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, let us have the same courage to accept the light of Christ—no longer acting as children of darkness, but as children of light.
As we recall year by year the mysteries by which, through the restoration of its original dignity, human nature has received the hope of rising again, we earnestly beseech your mercy, Lord, that what we celebrate in faith we may possess in unending love. 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
April 14, 2026 Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter Gospel: 3:7B-15
Today is Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter. The Gospel for Mass is taken from the narrative of the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus in the Gospel of Saint John.
We often, like Nicodemus, speak of this world as we see it with our eyes, according to our perception of things. In our view, this world we behold is one of extreme material abundance. When our gaze is fixed on all that belongs to this world, we become like those who saw with their own eyes all that Jesus did and heard with their own ears all that He preached yet refused to believe that Jesus is the Son of Man come down from heaven.
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” (See: John 3:12). What He meant by “earthly things” was the kingdom of God He intended to establish in this world destined to pass away; what He meant by “heavenly things” was the truth of the Kingdom of God that Jesus would bring to this world. The Jews did not believe all that Jesus said because they thought Jesus was the son of Mary, not the Son of God; they longed for a political Messiah who could save them from the Romans, not the Messiah of God.
Today, within our community, many also understand everything Jesus said in a literal sense. I wish to say to these brothers and sisters: The merciful Lord Christ desired to give Himself to us, so that through receiving His Baptism, we might be cleansed of the stain of original sin from the source of mercy flowing from His pierced side when He was lifted up from the earth. And so that through the same Baptism, we might put on Christ and be born anew in Him. When we receive this sacrament of such great love in the full communion of the Most Holy Trinity, we believe in the Son of Man who came down from heaven and is still in heaven, and in all the words that proceed from His mouth, learning from them the truth of the Kingdom.
Enable us, we pray, almighty God, to proclaim the power of the risen Lord, that we, who have received the pledge of his gift, may come to possess all he gives when it is fully revealed. 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
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