"Dapat kamo tanan matawo liwat"

Ebanghelyo subong nga Adlaw (Juan 3:7-15)

Indi ka magkatingala nga ako nagasiling sa imo, 'Dapat kamo tanan matawo liwat.'

Ang hangin nagahuyop bisan sa diin ang luyag niya. Mabatian mo ang iya huni, pero indi ka makahibalo kon diin ini nagahalin kag kon diin nagapakadto. Subong man sini ang nagakatabo sa tagsatagsa nga natawo sa Espiritu."

Si Nicodemo nagpamangkot, "Paano bala ang pagkahimo sini?"

Si Jesus nagsabat, "Bantog ka nga manunudlo sang Israel, kag wala ka makahibalo sini?

Nagasiling ako sa imo sang matuod: nagahambal kami sang amon nahibaluan, kag nagasugid sang amon nakit-an, pero wala gid sing isa sa inyo nga nagapati sang amon ginsiling.

Wala kamo nagapati sa akon kon magsugid ako sa inyo nahanungod sang mga butang sa sini nga kalibutan. Gani, paano abi ang pagtuo ninyo sa akon, kon sugiran ko kamo nahanungod sang mga butang nga langitnon?

Kag wala sing bisan isa nga nakasaka sa langit luas lamang sa Anak sang Tawo nga nagpanaog halin sa langit."

Subong nga si Moises nagbayaw sang man-og nga saway sa isa ka tukon didto sa desierto, sa amo man nga bagay pagabayawon ang Anak sang Tawo, agod nga ang tagsatagsa nga magtuo sa iya may kabuhi nga wala sing katapusan.

Prayers:

"Lord Jesus Christ, your death brought life for us. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may walk in freedom and joy in the knowledge of your great victory over sin and death."

***

Reflection of the Daily Gospel:

Do you know the healing power and victory of the cross of Jesus Christ? Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of a "new birth in the Spirit" which would come about through the victory he would accomplish through his death and rising. The Hebrew word for "spirit" means both "wind" and "breath". Jesus said to Nicodemus: "You can hear, feel, and see the effects of the wind, but you do not know where it comes from. In like manner, you can see the effects of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those the Spirit touches." Jesus explained to Nicodemus the necessity of the crucifixion, his atoning death on the cross, and the resurrection, his rising from the tomb on the third day, by analogy with Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert which brough healing and deliverance from the curse of death. When the people of Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin, God instructed Moses: "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live"(Numbers 21:8).

The bronze serpent points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains everlasting life for those who believe in Jesus Christ. The result of Jesus "being lifted up on the cross" and his rising from the dead, and his exaltation and ascension to the Father's right hand in heaven, is our "new birth in the Spirit" and adoption as sons and daughters of God. God not only frees us from our sins and pardons us, he also fills us with his own divine life through the gift of his Spirit so that we may share in his glory. Jesus makes us a new creation through the gift and working of his Holy Spirit. His Spirit also gives us boldness and confidence to openly share the good news of the gospel and to defend it by our words and action, and to never be ashamed of the Cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts, especially the seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence for God and his ways, and a holy fear in God's presence (see Isaiah 11), to enable us to live in his strength as sons and daughters of God. Do you thirst for the new life which God offers you through the transforming power of his Holy Spirit?