On this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are called to receive his heart into our own hearts, not in abject obedience, but in a loving following of him who gave his life for us—serving him out of love who served us out of love.
God promised Abram and Sarai a child, but when that promise was slow in coming, they decided to have Abram sleep with Sarai's maidservant Hagar instead. This was a bad decision, but God still kept his promise to Abram and Sarai, and God made the descendents of Ishmael, Hagar's child, more numerous than one could count. God is not limited by our bad decisions, and whether or not we are faithful, God's plans will come to pass.
Jesus says, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now." A reflection on why God sometimes withholds understanding and how the Holy Spirit transforms us to receive divine truth.
Paul and Silas's response to their suffering is to sing. This shows their patience, not a worldly patience, which is to simply endure suffering, but a Christian patience which spring out of a knowledge that God will make all things right in the end.
Today's Gospel features the famous dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus about being "born again" or, more accurately, "born from above" (John 3). Jesus uses the analogy of the wind: "The Spirit blows where it wills... you do not know where it comes from or where it goes."
While we might wish for individual, private appearances of the Risen Lord, God's design for faith is communal. We are meant to come to faith through the shared testimony and proclamation of others—like the apostles (including Thomas after his encounter) and St. John writing the Book of Revelation. Faith isn't meant to be lived "siloed."
