Witness the Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today underline the importance of the Holy Spirit in the development of disciples of Jesus who fully realize the life to which the Apostles of the Book of Acts are witness and which the Promise in the Gospel of John draws us, as it attracted Nicodemus. Luke expresses the power of the Spirit in the action of the Apostles to transcend fear and speak truth to the educated and powerful even as they realize through the words of Psalm 2 that the rulers will challenge and plot against them. The boldness required of Christians is to live the message. This message calls for people to be "born again" or as Friar Jude Winkler notes to be "born from above" as another possible translation of this challenging passage from the Gospel of John. The strong desire within people to satisfy ourselves is a component of our nature as "flesh". The transformation of our desire to that for intimacy with the Divine requires our openness  to pray as the disciples; "Come Holy Spirit". The faith component of our transcendent action is that we trust that when we seek the Holy Spirit, the Spirit moves within us. Jesus instructs Nicodemus that the follower must be sacramentally or visibly part of the Body to participate fully in the New Life. The secret Christian would hardly experience or be witness to the boldness and controversy understood in Psalm 2 to accompany working for the Lord.