＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 4: 23-31

As soon as Peter and John were set free,

they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them.  When they heard it, they raised their voices as one and called upon God, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth, of the sea and everything in them,  you have put these words in the mouth of David, our father and your servant, through the Holy Spirit: Why did the pagan nations rage and the people conspire in folly?

 The kings of the earth were aligned and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.  For indeed in this very city Herod with Pontius Pilate, and the pagans together with the people of Israel conspired against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.  Thus, indeed, they brought about whatever your powerful will had decided from all time would happen.   

But now, Lord, see their threats against us and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and to work signs and wonders through the Name of Jesus your holy servant.” When they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together shook, and they were all filled with Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.

 

Ps 2: 1-3, 4-7a, 7b-9

Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 3: 1-8

Among the Pharisees there was a ruler of the Jews named Nico­deus.  He came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God to teach us, for no one can perform miraculous signs like yours unless God is with him.”  Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again from above.”

 Nicodemus said, “How can there be rebirth for a grown man? Who could go back to his mo­ther’s womb and be born again?”  Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.   What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.   Because of this, don’t be surprised when I say: ‘You must be born again from above.’

The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Jesus tells Nicodemus in the Gospel that only one who has been “born again from above” can gain entry into the kingdom of heaven, while in the first reading, the apostles Peter and John pray for even greater boldness as they seek to proclaim Christ amidst the growing hostility of those who refuse to believe – both instances point to the fact that whatever a disciple accomplishes, whether individually or as a community, are first and foremost the result of divine initiative and not simply human activity. It is the Spirit that gives life, just as it is the spirt that moves and inspires.

It is always God who takes the initiative. It is who takes the first step. Pope Benedict, in one of his works, says (quoting from St. Augustine’s “Confessions”) that “our hearts are restless” for God because God’s heart was “restless for us first.” We merely respond to this divine invitation. In the end, everything we are able to accomplish whether personally or as a church, are the results of God’s grace; we merely cooperate.