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R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
or:
R. Alleluia.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man must be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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 speak of 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 may have eternal life.”
Meditations
"The Wind," a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, describes a person's experience of the wind like this:
"I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all."
When Jesus describes the "invisible" action of the Holy Spirit to Nicodemus, he uses similar images. Like the wind, the Spirit can't be seen, but we can sense his call and feel his "push." We've all experienced this type of thing; we've all felt prompted at times to do something--or not to do something--that we hadn't thought of before. you might remember and want to contact someone you haven't called in a long time. Or just as you're about to say something negative, you realize you should hold your tongue. That's the Holy Spirit!
When you obey those promptings of the Spirit, you make him "visible" to the people around you. Like Nicodemus, many people today are looking for tangible proof that God is real. Oftentimes, even if you speak persuasively, it's not the actual words that draw people to Jesus. It's the spirit behind your words. That's where listening to the Spirit comes in. When you're trying to follow the Spirit, people will see that God is real and is at work in and through your witness.
The more you try to follow the Holy Spirit's leading, the better you get at it. instead of turning a blind eye, you might offer money or a kind word to a homeless person. When someone tells you their problems, instead of getting annoyed, you'll listen patiently and offer to say a prayer with them. When you are criticized unfairly, you'll respond with gentleness instead of anger.
Although we can't see the Spirit with our eyes, his movements will be hard to miss. Through you, people will be able to feel his gentle call. Even better, they may be drawn in by his invisible--but powerful--loving embrace.
"Lord, open my ears to hear you Spirit calling, and give me the courage to follow where he leads me."