Second Birth: Born of Water and the Spirit

In today's Gospel, John 3: 1-8, Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night and acknowledges that Jesus is from God, "for no one," he says to Jesus, "can do these signs that  you are doing unless God is with him."  Jesus says to him in response: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Jesus explains further:  "[U]nless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.....'You must be born from above.'"

In baptism, you and I were born again, that is, we were born of  water and the spirit. Our first birth was of the flesh. Our second birth was of the Spirit. Born of water and the Spirit in baptism, we are recipients of the gifts of the Spirit--wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge and reverence, holy reverence in God's presence--and empowered to bear an abundance of fruits of the Spirit: love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We live by the Spirit because of this second birth.  The more we renounce ourselves, also, the more we 'walk by the Spirit'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 736, p. 194).

Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night--he is not yet born from above but is invited to be so!  How strong am I in my faith, that is, do I invite others to be born from above, to be baptized with water and he Spirit? Do I realize that it is because I have been gifted with the sacrament of baptism that I am more likely to act wisely, peacefully, patiently, kindly, gently; that I am therefore  more likely to be faithful to my marriage, religious or priestly vows; and that goodness is more likely to dominate the majority of my choices for that same reason?  Why would I not invite a loved one to choose baptism and seek God above all, to renounce him/herself and thereby walk more in the Spirit than in the flesh?

With the apostles, in today's first reading, Acts 4: 23-31, let us pray for the gift to speak boldly when it comes to proclaiming our faith in Christ Jesus and in what Jesus teaches us in the Scriptures and in the Church.

The Spiritual and the Unspiritual at War within Us

In today’s first reading, Galatians 5: 18-25,  Paul presents a clear picture of the two laws operative within human nature: the law of the flesh and the law of the spirit. They are easily recognizable by the works which flow from them. If I am operating from the  flesh, I will be involved in immoral acts, acts of impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of anger, acts of selfishness.  In that case, I will also  be planting seeds of divisiveness, creating factions, being envious, engaging in orgies and acts of drunkenness, Paul tells me.  On the other hand, when I am functioning under the guidance of the Spirit, the works that follow will yield the fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”.

Like Paul, (cf Rom 7: 14-25), each of us encounters  within us that  which is “unspiritual,” things of the flesh.  There are times when we do not “understand” our “own behavior,” when we “fail to carry out the things” we “want to do,” that is, things under the guidance of the Spirit, and find ourselves “doing the very things” we hate, behaviors prompted by the law of the flesh.  “When,” in the words of Romans 7: 16, “…[we] act against …[our] own will, [against the law of the Spirit, then,]  the thing behaving that way is not …[our true] self but sin living…[in] us….Who will rescue…[us from our false self] doomed to death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

If we remain in Jesus, our Lord, the true vine, Jesus tells us in John 15:1-7, we   will bear “fruit in plenty; …(Jn 15: 5).  “Every branch in…[Jesus] that bears no fruit …[the Father] cuts away and every branch that does bear fruit…he prunes to make it bear even more. You are pruned already, by means of the word that I [the Lord] have spoken to you….”

Oh, the wonders of our salvation in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.