The Field and the Wind: Living the New Birth

Voice over by Eliz

Acts 5:17-26, Psalm: 33, Jn 3:16-21

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

The Easter season continually reveals that the Resurrection is not merely an event to be celebrated, but a power to be lived. Today, the Church places before us two witnesses: one a community so transformed that they held nothing as their own, and another a seeker in the night who learned that the Spirit blows where it wills. Together, they show us the concrete shape of being born from above.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we encounter a community that astonishes us. “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.” This is not an economic system; it is a spiritual revolution. These men and women had encountered the Risen Lord, and that encounter shattered their attachment to things. They discovered a security that no earthly possession could provide. Their hearts were so full of grace that they could not hoard. Their hands were so open to receive that they could not help but give.

Luke singles out Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus, who sells a field he owns and lays the proceeds at the apostles’ feet. His name means “son of encouragement.” And that is precisely what his generosity becomes: an encouragement to the whole community. He shows that being born from above means living from a different economy—one where love, not scarcity, is the currency.

This brings us to the Gospel, where Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the source of this new way of living. “You must be born from above.” Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, is baffled. How can one be born again? Jesus explains that this is not a matter of physical rebirth, but of spiritual transformation. “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, the cautious Pharisee who comes to Jesus by night, is learning that the Spirit cannot be controlled or calculated. The Spirit blows into hearts, loosening attachments, opening hands, creating communities of radical generosity. The same Spirit that would later blow through the upper room on Pentecost is the Spirit that transforms Barnabas and the early Church.

Pope Francis reflects on this Gospel: “The Spirit gives us the courage to go out of ourselves, to become a gift for others.” St. John Chrysostom, commenting on the Acts passage, says, “Nothing makes us so strong as being free from the love of money; nothing so makes us weak as the passion for it.”

For us today, the call is clear. We are invited to be born from above, to let the Spirit blow through our lives and loosen our grip on what we possess. Perhaps we cannot sell a field, but we can share our resources more freely. Perhaps we cannot give everything, but we can give something that costs us. The question is not whether we have enough, but whether we have truly received the Spirit of the Risen Lord.

This Easter season, let us ask for the grace of Barnabas: the courage to be generous, the freedom to share, and the heart of encouragement. For in giving, we become like the One who gave everything. In trusting, we are truly born from above. Amen.

May God bless you all!