Gospel of the Day
A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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 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.”
Believing Without Understanding
It is striking that nowadays we are used to “knowing” everything — and if we do not, we simply look it up on our phones or ask AI. Through this Gospel, we see that the things of God do not work like that. That is why Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again.
The same happens in our marriage. We try to understand each other through human logic, and then it can seem as though we have completely opposite characters, that our gifts — instead of helping — become obstacles, or even that we made a mistake because we feel we have nothing in common with our spouse.
But God does everything well. He invites us to strip ourselves of our ego and be born again. Only then can there be a true marriage: becoming one flesh means being reborn within our marriage, allowing the Lord to dwell at the centre of our sacrament — making it something eternal, not something fleeting as the world often suggests today.
Applied to Married Life
Henry: Alicia, do you know I was speaking with my cousin Charles this morning? I hadn’t seen him well lately, so I asked if something was wrong.
Alicia: Poor thing… what did he say?
Henry: I was quite shocked. He told me he is considering separating from Carmen. He thinks they’ve been together too many years, that their marriage has become routine, that they have opposite characters, and now that their children have left home, it feels like they have nothing in common. He thinks maybe it is time to start again — each on their own.
Alicia: That’s heartbreaking… they must be suffering so much. If you agree, Henry, speak to him again and I will talk to Carmen. We can tell them that the Lord is giving them a new opportunity to begin again in their marriage — a “rebirth”. That they should ask each other for help, go to Mass together, pray together, and that we will be there for whatever they need.
Henry: That sounds like a great idea. I also mentioned to Charles that we have the Proyecto Amor Conyugal retreat next month, but he said he couldn’t be bothered to give up a weekend for that, and he doesn’t think anything can be fixed in just two days.
Alicia: Well, with God’s help, we must convince them that this weekend could be the best investment of their lives… shall we get started?
Henry: Let’s do it! We’ll call them now. But first, let’s pray the Rosary for them — above all, they need prayers.
Prayer
Mother,
Help us to be born again in the Lord.
May He be forever blessed and praised!