Reflection for April 28 Monday of the Second Week of Easter: John 3:1-8

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; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

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Reflection:

Are you already 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 are faithful to our fidelity to Jesus. We have already been born again by virtue of 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. 

If we are fair-weather Catholics, we have not yet been truly born again. Therefore, we 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 the faith. 

In our Gospel, Nicodemus took literally the meaning of being born again. This is the reason why he said 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 refers to our baptism. 

By virtue of our baptism, all of us have already been born again — that was years and years ago. There’s no need for any 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 Church. 

How would we do this? 

We go to Holy Mass faithfully and humbly beg God the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, so that we may understand what goes on within the celebration of the Holy Mass. We visit the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel as often as possible, speak to Jesus there, and ask Him to renew us according to His will. And we open and read our Bible, so that we may have a personal encounter with the very words and life of Jesus. 

Are you already a born-again Catholic? – Marino J. Dasmarinas