"Christ and Nicodemus" Volmarijn, Crijn Hendricksz. Attrib. to c. 1604–1645.
A few words.....
As lockdown life goes on.......
Don’t count the days.
Make the days count.
So that’s the Easter octave over, but we continue to journey through the 50 days of the Easter Season right through to Pentecost.
There’s a particular figure we hear about in the scriptures and he’s in the gospel for today’s Mass. It’s Nicodemus, and he’s mentioned only in the Gospel according to John.
There’s something we can learn from him about discipleship.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were always opposing Jesus.
What makes Nicodemus different from the other Pharisees is he comes to listen to Jesus. In the gospel we hear that Nicodemus made a effort, in secret, by night, to come before Christ and listen to him.
Nicodemus is drawn to the gospel. He listens to Jesus.
We could say that he was one of the first pupils to be given a lesson by Jesus, to be given catechesis, an instruction by Christ on baptism.
So today’s gospel is one of the Nicodemus scenes.
There are two other occasions when we hear of Nicodemus.
There’s the time when Nicodemus speaks up for Christ. It’s the scene where he speaks up in defence of Jesus. He insists and reminds his colleagues that they can’t condemn Jesus without giving him a fair hearing.
The other occasion is the Nicodemus scene on Good Friday where we hear that he acts. He helps Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus down from the cross.
So, we have these three scenes where we hear about Nicodemus and together they really are an instruction, catechesis on discipleship, teaching on being a follower of Christ, being Christian.
Listen.........And prayer is important for this. And we know the effort and the sacrifice we have to make to listen. Like Nicodemus, we must allow ourselves to be drawn to Christ, to be drawn to the gospel.
Defend........This reminds us that we’re called to witness. And we need the gift of courage at times to witness, to stand up for what we believe in. Okay, we’re not able to do it just now, but the very act of coming to Mass on Sunday is a sign of commitment and it is very much a witness to the world.
Act.........Acting as a disciple means being Christ-like. Means treating others as you would like them to treat you......it means praying......helping others.......being careful what we say.......forgiving our enemies.....and acting as a disciple also means being faithful to the joyful command that has been given to us to Go and Tell others about Jesus.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Take care
Fr Mackle
As lockdown life goes on.......
Don’t count the days.
Make the days count.
So that’s the Easter octave over, but we continue to journey through the 50 days of the Easter Season right through to Pentecost.
There’s a particular figure we hear about in the scriptures and he’s in the gospel for today’s Mass. It’s Nicodemus, and he’s mentioned only in the Gospel according to John.
There’s something we can learn from him about discipleship.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were always opposing Jesus.
What makes Nicodemus different from the other Pharisees is he comes to listen to Jesus. In the gospel we hear that Nicodemus made a effort, in secret, by night, to come before Christ and listen to him.
Nicodemus is drawn to the gospel. He listens to Jesus.
We could say that he was one of the first pupils to be given a lesson by Jesus, to be given catechesis, an instruction by Christ on baptism.
So today’s gospel is one of the Nicodemus scenes.
There are two other occasions when we hear of Nicodemus.
There’s the time when Nicodemus speaks up for Christ. It’s the scene where he speaks up in defence of Jesus. He insists and reminds his colleagues that they can’t condemn Jesus without giving him a fair hearing.
The other occasion is the Nicodemus scene on Good Friday where we hear that he acts. He helps Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus down from the cross.
So, we have these three scenes where we hear about Nicodemus and together they really are an instruction, catechesis on discipleship, teaching on being a follower of Christ, being Christian.
Listen.........And prayer is important for this. And we know the effort and the sacrifice we have to make to listen. Like Nicodemus, we must allow ourselves to be drawn to Christ, to be drawn to the gospel.
Defend........This reminds us that we’re called to witness. And we need the gift of courage at times to witness, to stand up for what we believe in. Okay, we’re not able to do it just now, but the very act of coming to Mass on Sunday is a sign of commitment and it is very much a witness to the world.
Act.........Acting as a disciple means being Christ-like. Means treating others as you would like them to treat you......it means praying......helping others.......being careful what we say.......forgiving our enemies.....and acting as a disciple also means being faithful to the joyful command that has been given to us to Go and Tell others about Jesus.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Take care
Fr Mackle
