Tuesday – Second Week of Easter

Gospel – John 3:7b-15

A Mighty Wind

Church of Dormition

Growing up, one of my all-time favorite TV shows was Superman, the old black and white program with George Reeve.  And if there was one thing I wanted to do, like the Man of Steel, was to fly!  So anytime it would get really windy, I would rush outside and start running as fast as I could.  I thought that if I ran fast enough with the wind at my back, I would be lifted off the ground and fly.  Unfortunately it never worked.

Decades later, I went to college at Loyola University in Chicago, the Windy City.  And I experienced the real raw power of the wind everyday as I walked east on Sheridan Road to get to class.  In the winter especially, it was an all-out fight against the wind as I struggled one torturous step at a time to stay on my feet.  Needless to say, the walk home after class was a much quicker journey but you still had to grab a street pole at times as the wind pushed you at a pace you were not able to maintain.  And no, even that intense of a wind did not allow me to achieve flight!  It just goes to show you – in a battle against the wind, we are always going to lose!  We are all at the mercy of the power of the wind

Which brings us to today’s Gospel!  Honest, there is a connection!  Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, about the importance of being reborn in the Spirit.  And Nicodemus just doesn’t understand.  What’s significant here is the Hebrew word that Jesus uses. RUAH!  It means spirit or breath.  But it also means wind, or whirlwind or gale or cyclone.  And it also means SOUL!  Not to be too long-‘winded’!  The Spirit breathes life into us, it inspires us, and motivates us.

It is a reminder to us all that, like the Apostles at Pentecost, through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we have all been filled with the Spirit.  And that same Spirit leads us in ways and on paths we know not how or where and we are powerless to resist!  We are challenged to respond to the call and the power of the Spirit and follow the grace-filled path it leads us on with faith and courage.

Where will the Spirit lead you today?

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