August 8, 2011
St. Dominic
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today I call you to be born anew in prayer and through the Holy Spirit, to become a new people with my Son; a people who knows that if they have lost God, they have lost themselves; a people who knows that, with God, despite all sufferings and trials, they are secure and saved. I call you to gather into God's family and to be strengthened with the Father's strength. As individuals, my children, you cannot stop the evil that wants to begin to rule in this world and to destroy it. But, according to God's will, all together, with my Son, you can change everything and heal the world. I call you to pray with all your heart for your shepherds, because my Son chose them. Thank you." (August 2, 2011)
We have heard this idea of being "born anew" before. Jesus made it abundantly clear that we needed to be "born anew" in his midnight meeting with Nicodemus.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God'" (John 3: 1-5).
This conversation must have been confusing for Nicodemus. He didn't know yet of Jesus' incredible act of redemption on the Cross. He didn't understand the transformative power of Jesus' death and resurrection, and how the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the Apostles and through them upon the whole Church at Pentecost. What could Jesus be getting at? How can a man be reborn?
And yet even without this information, Nicodemus understood that there was something extraordinary about Jesus. He admitted that Jesus must have come from God because of the signs he was doing. And he wanted to be let in on the secret. What was God doing in sending Jesus? What did all these miracles mean?
Jesus went right to the point with Nicodemus. He said that unless a man is born again, born of water and the Spirit, he will not see or enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, what God was doing in sending Jesus was offering the Kingdom of God to men. But that Kingdom was inaccessible to them unless they were completely changed, so changed that they were remade, rebuilt from the beginning, reborn. The water, the holy water of Baptism, and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit poured out at Baptism, would be the new birthing place for each person. This new birth would wash away all the sins of the past and plant within the person a new reality, the reality of holiness, of virtue, of spiritual gifts. This rebirth would change everything, taking away original sin and bestowing graces that would make it possible to see the Kingdom and enter it. These graces and gifts are imparted by the Holy Spirit through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and they make it possible for us to live holy lives. Everyone needs to receive and be led by the Holy Spirit on this journey towards the Kingdom of God.
Our Lady wants us to enter into our rebirth, to receive our new reality, the Holy Spirit, on a daily basis. Through prayer we can receive the Holy Spirit every day, and that Spirit will make us new people, re-born people, united to her Son. I don't think this is supposed to be just a theological reality, that once we are baptized, we are new people. I think it has to be a tangible thing as well. We have to be new people because of what Jesus did for us and the grace we are given through His love. So today as we pray we may truly experience the love of God in our hearts (through the Holy Spirit) and that love will make us smile. Or maybe today we will choose to speak hopeful words to our family (through the Holy Spirit's inspiration) instead of being discouraging or fearful, so that they will grow in hope. Or maybe today we will choose to pray an extra rosary for peace (as the Spirit leads us), or call a friend who is alone (under the guidance of the Spirit). You see what I mean, the new life is really the Kingdom made tangible on earth through us. We are reborn through the power of the Holy Spirit and we give birth to life and love!
We need the Holy Spirit. We need to live our rebirth. Come Holy Spirit!
In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2011
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