Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night,” in the darkness of his life. He wanted to be enlightened, to understand what was going on around him. That is a condition to which many of us can relate. Nicodemus was astonished by what he heard from Jesus, by what he saw him doing day by day. That may be true for us, as well—we remain in darkness until our eyes are opened by the Holy One to see the Love that God has prepared for us.

During Lent, we may choose a spiritual discipline of reading scripture or spiritual classics in order to focus attention on what may be amiss in our lives, to seek what may be hidden in the darkness of our culture, our traditions. So long as we keep the words in our heads, not much will happen. It is when we go deeper, when we open our hearts to hear, receive, and accept the Word of the Lord however it may come, that transformation can begin in us. Only, as our hearts are convicted of all the ways that we have wandered away from the Beloved, that we have allowed the temptations of the day to lead us down one dark path after another, do we realize we can return to the open arms of God who is always and forever patiently waiting for us to come to ourselves as did the one we have come to call the Prodigal Son (Lk.15:11-24).

Nicodemus’ night visit with Jesus so changed his frame of reference that he followed Jesus all the way to the cross and beyond (Jn.7:50-51, Jn.19:35-42). May it be so with us as we allow this holy Lent to lead us through the darkness of our lives to the glory of Easter.