Nicodemus, in our Gospel for today, recognizes that “no one can do these signs you do apart from the presence of God.” We know, of course, that we can never be apart from God, who is always present everywhere, closer than our very breath. While God is omnipresent to each and all, we are not always so faithful to our Creator.

The season of Lent is a good time for us to look at how we may have drawn apart from the Holy One and allowed our hearts to become hardened to God's healing and life-giving presence here and now. If you do a soul-searching self-examination of your relationship with God and find that you have allowed too many distractions to draw you away from the One who loves you more than life itself, it is time to stop and take a breath to get your priorities in order.

Take time now to sit in silence for a while, and just breathe, breathing in the Love of God and breathing out that Love into the world around you that needs it so badly. Notice your abdomen expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale. Feel divine Love coursing through your whole body, and give thanks. When you feel at peace, you may realize that you are indeed in the Presence of God. Once we can abide in the Presence of the Beloved, rather than just dropping in for a visit, I suspect we will begin to understand the reality of Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches.(Jn.15: 4-5)