Tuesday 2nd week of Easter
"Jn 3:7b-15"
Jesus said to Nicodemus: 'You must be born anew'...Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen...No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Nicodemus - a doctor of the Law and learned in the Scriptures - was confused. Therefore, he did what we should do in our mental prayer: ask You, Jesus, because You are the only One Who has all the answers. You, Lord, are the only One Who can reveal the Truth that we need to believe because You are the Truth. But You can't get all these things across in just one conversation! You need us to foster a habit of chatting with You. Nicodemus probably met and talked with You on many more occasions because eventually, as we read in the Gospel, when all the others left You during Your Agony and Death on that Good Friday, he was there to stand up for You, to take Your Body and bury It.
That is the effect of regular and frequent prayer. And that is also why I need to foster that daily conversation with Jesus. It's like eating healthily: you don't notice striking changes after one meal or one week; but after a time you can tell something has changed, even though you don't remember your meals. Only over time do we come to see its good effect. Likewise, to pray every day can be demanding and many times you will not remember what you chatted with God about the day before... but only by that daily contact with Jesus can He get across what you need to believe and transform you into another Nicodemus: a faithful friend who stands with Him when others have deserted!
Let's give Our Lord the great comfort of our daily conversation with Him. "Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us" (St Teresa of Avila). My Mother Immaculate, teach me to talk to Him as you did then, as you do now.
