This verse makes me think of
how many well meaning people have asked me. ”Have you been saved? Have you been born again?” It seems that a lot
of them ask me this when they hear that I am Catholic. When I tell them I am
ordained clergy they will still ask, “But are you born again.”
I am being evangelized by
those who doubt my faith, my beliefs, and most of all God's mercy.
Sometimes, I just want to turn
around and ask them, “Do you believe what is written in the Bible?”; "Do follow
the commands of Jesus?"
In the gospel of John, Jesus
says that you have to be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven. But
he also says so much more. In this same
gospel, he asks, "Have I been with you for so long a time and still you do
not know me?"
This may be where many are
today. Jesus has been with us for so long a time and the world still does not
know him. Too many Christians have taken only bits and pieces of Jesus.
Like baptism, it was not all Jesus ask
us to do. How many forget the Eucharist?
Professor Scott Hahn points out that
the New Testament of Jesus Christ is not those books in the bible but the Eucharist. All the Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke as well as the Epistles
of Paul - speak of it. This is why these are called the New Testament. This is the cup of the new and everlasting
covenant.
Jesus did not baptize anyone. He did give us the Eucharist and today many take it for granted. John, chapter 6, says that when his disciples heard the mystery of the Eucharist and the secret of eternal life many of them left him because they could not do what he asked.
Today, Churches do not identify as Eucharistic communities but Bible Churches
They then ask, "Have you been born again?"
I have been born again; I am
baptized just as Jesus commanded, in water and the Holy Spirit. I live the new testament of Jesus Christ by taking part in the new and everlasting
covenant; sharing in the body and blood just as Jesus commanded so that I may have eternal life. I obey the Church and her teachings as put forward
through the apostles.
As Christians we must hold on
to all that Jesus Christ ask us to do. We have to live in Gods love and mercy to
know the way of Christ. It is God’s
mercy that changes us. In this change we
are born again to eternal life.
It is not a magical prayer or
a sacramental washing that allows us to be born again. Prayer and baptism are important and we should not forget our need for them. But, it is the mercy of Christ Jesus that changes
us into new creature and brings us to eternal salvation.
Prayer
Lord God, Jesus Christ our Savior, let us know
the love of God and your mercy; so we can love and have mercy. It was through
your love and mercy that we have been born again; let us be your witnesses to
the world. Amen.
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