To be born again

Aside from being a season of joy because of our Lord’s resurrection, the culminating event of his redemptive work, Easter time is also for preparing ourselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit, since our life is supposed to be Life in the Spirit.

And so in many readings of this season’s Masses, together with the alleluias that we sing with gusto, a lot of references are made to the Holy Spirit. Typical of such readings is the gospel about the meeting of Nicodemus with our Lord, as recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3.

There we have the famous lines about being born again, a phenomenon we have to be very familiar with, because we have a big part to play in our own rebirth. Sad to say, this need for being born again is not yet known to many.

Our Lord said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot re-enter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”

Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless 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.”

To be born again is, as our Lord said, to be born of water and Spirit. Our first birth, our natural birth, is God’s first creation of us, an event where we did not have any part.

But since, we have been made in God’s image and likeness, we are supposed to be free and do things knowingly and lovingly, we need to correspond to God’s will in creating us, and so there is the second birth, our rebirth, our being born again, where we willingly should go along God’s designs for us.

To be born again is to willingly link ourselves with God who in the Spirit continues to be with us, always intervening in our life, showing us his will and ways, in manners both discernible and understandable as well as mysterious and inscrutable. This is what is meant to be born in water and Spirit.

Water refers to the sacrament of baptism that signifies that we are willing to link up with God in the Spirit, and everything that is involved in such a link-up—fidelity to Christ, following his teachings, etc.

That’s why our Lord told Nicodemus, “Do not be amazed that I told you, ’You must be born from above.’ 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.”

It is the Holy Spirit who will guide us, and all we have to do is to be docile to the Holy Spirit, a relationship that does not undermine our freedom, but rather enhances it.

Let’s remember that our freedom is never absolute, since we as man, as persons, are not absolute beings, but creatures, who receive our existence and everything in it, like our freedom, from God.

We need to be clear about this point, because many times we believe that we just have to live our own life, in complete and absolute autonomy from God and from others. We often consider our relationship with God and others as purely optional, developed at the instance of our own convenience, etc.

And we often depend only on what we have—our intelligence, our talents, our privileges, our looks, our wealth and fame, our earthly powers. These endowments, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, can go anywhere and nowhere. The only way we can be on the right track is when we are living and doing things with the Holy Spirit.

This point may still sound strange, and even outrageous, to many. That’s unfortunate, because it simply shows a gaping ignorance of some fundamental truths about ourselves that can come only from our faith.

It’s faith that enlarges and completes the picture, that gives us the ultimate dimensions of our life. Our sciences and other human knowledge can only cover so much, and if not guided by the Holy Spirit, again can go anywhere and nowhere.

We need to be born again and cultivate a Life in the Spirit. Are we beginning to develop an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, in deeds more than in words and intentions?