Gospel: John
3:1-8
There was
a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and
said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for
no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” Jesus
answered and said to him, “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. 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; o it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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Reflection:
Are you
born again? Every catholic who is faithful to the faith is born again. Being
born again means we practice the sacred teachings and rituals of our faith and
we are faithful to our fidelity to Jesus. We have already been born again
through our baptism this means that we are new individuals in Christ. As such
we have to do good all the time and we have to follow the teachings of the
church where Jesus speaks from.
If you
are a fair weather catholic you have not yet been born again. Therefore you need
to be born again by having a personal relationship with our Lord, Master and
Savior Jesus Christ. This personal relationship with Jesus will facilitate our
being born again in our faith.
In our
gospel, Nicodemus took literally the meaning of being born again. This is the
reason why he told this to Jesus, Surely he cannot re-enter his mother’s womb
and be born again, can he (John 3:4)?” Yet Jesus reminded Nicodemus that the
essence of being born again is to be born of water and spirit which actually is
the period of our baptism.
By virtue
of our baptism all of us had been born again already that was years and years
ago. There’s no need for anyone of us to change our religion to be born again. What
we need is to have a personal encounter with Jesus within our Roman Catholic
faith.
How would
we do this? We go to Holy Mass faithfully and we humbly beg Jesus to give us
the grace of the Holy Spirit. So that we would understand with faith what goes
on inside the celebration of the Holy Mass. We visit the Eucharistic Adoration
Chapel as often as possible we speak to
Jesus there and we ask Him change us. And we open and read our bible so that we
will have a personal encounter with the very words and life of Jesus.
Are you a
born again catholic? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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