Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (3: 1-8) in which a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council seeks Jesus out under the cover of darkness to learn more about his teachings.Fr Paul says as soon as the first week of rejoicing at the Resurrection of Jesus is over the Church begins to put before us the great discourses of Jesus (on other words, the teaching rather than the doings of Jesus) in the Gospel of John. These readings from John will continue right through our Easter Season. Today, Fr Paul notes, we hear of Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night, and that is highly significant in John. Jesus is the light of the world, and when Judas goes out to betray Jesus John tells us (13:30) that it was night. Nicodemus begins thoroughly confused and asking questions, and he is rebuked for his failure to understand about the freedom of the Spirit, and his failure to understand his own tradition. But Nicodemus is the figure of discovery; the discovery that every Christian makes again and again, and he will end up alright in the end, because he took part in the burial of Jesus. He is the example of the good Pharisee, for John stresses that salvation comes from the Jews (4:22), and at least some believed like Nicodemus. It is perhaps significant that only here in this passage, verses 3 and 5, does the term ‘Kingdom of God’ appear in John’s Gospel. This was the traditional formula for the ideal, the perfection of creation so vividly promised by Isaiah and the rest of the prophets. For the Pharisees, like Nicodemus, it consisted in perfect obedience to the will of God when the demands of the Law would be fully observed.   Throughout this story of discovery, we can feel that the Spirit of God breathes where it will. Both in Greek and in Hebrew the same word also means ‘wind’ and ‘breath’. We cannot control the wind. The wind blows where it wills, and no more can we control the Spirit of God.In closing, Fr Paul notes our Gospel challenge – Do I hide my faith so that no one sees it, like Nicodemus coming to see Jesus in the dark or do I let my faith shine out so others can see?