April 22, 2009, Homily, April 21, 2009

John 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 testify to 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 shall have eternal life."
The Gospel of the Lord.

What is this Gospel all about? After John Paul II became Pope, he gave an interview and a reported asked him, "What was the greatest day in your life?" John Paul II, pope, cardinal, bishop, priest, university professor, world expert in sociology, answered, "The day of my baptism." That is what this Gospel is all about, the greatest day in each of our lives.

Baptism: each of us is anointed priest [say our prayers], prophet [preach the word], king [be generous].

Donald Rumsfeld: "There are known knowns. There are known unknowns. And there are unknown unknowns."

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him, nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.