Today's Season of Joy reflection on John 3:1-8 is by Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, Fr. Jim entered the Jesuits in 1971 and was ordained in 1983. He has worked in retreat houses and in ministry, was the national director of the Apostleship of Prayer and currently serves as a spiritual director at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
from 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? ...
Full scripture: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041723.cfm
What was the greatest day of your life? Do you remember it? I suspect that most of us don't. I sure don't. That's because the greatest day of any of our lives was the day on which we were “born from above.”
That word that Jesus uses in his conversation with Nicodemus created confusion for him. It could be translated, “born from above,”or, “born again,” which is the way Nicodemus took it. Or it could also mean, “born anew.” Those are all different ways that Jesus told Nicodemus about the requirement for entering the Kingdom of God.
What’s it mean to be “born from above?” Jesus went on to explain that it means to be “born of water and Spirit.” It seems pretty clear that Jesus was talking about baptism. Now, baptism isn't just an initiation right into an organization. It's much bigger, more important, mysterious and life changing.
Water is used to clean things, and the water used in our baptisms cleansed us of sin. But it did something more. Though water is necessary for life, it is also dangerous and can destroy life. People drown in water and lose their lives, and that's what happened to us when we were baptized.
We believe that we were drowned when we were baptized, that we died to an old life and were born to a new life. Baptism killed our old selves and gave us a new life with Jesus who died for us and then rose to a new life, a resurrected life, a life that he shares with everyone who was baptized.
But, you may say, after baptism people don't look any different. And if they're baptized as adults, they would probably say that they don't feel any different, but they truly are different. Through baptism, they're joined to the risen body of Christ, whose divine life flows into and through them. They're temples of the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in them.
Think of that. The word for Spirit can also mean wind or breath. So just as the wind is a mysterious and powerful force that comes from who knows where and goes to who knows where, so is the Spirit, the breath of God. Like the wind, which we cannot see, so is the Spirit of God.
We can't see the Holy Spirit, but like a powerful wind, like the wind at Pentecost that can shake a house, so we can see the effects of the Spirit. And if we're temples of the Spirit, that means that God is not far from any of us, but very close, as close to us and as necessary for us, as our breath. Throughout the centuries, Christians have prayed with a breath prayer.
They filled their lungs with a deep breath, imagining the Holy Spirit within them, sustaining their new life. And then they exhaled and, as it were, breat
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