May the Lord grant you grace and peace in the Risen Lore. It is 17th April 2023.
We reflect on Acts 4:23-31 and John 3:1-8.
Are you born-again in grace or buried-again and again in sin?
“Being born again means letting the Spirit enter into us. Prayer is what opens the door to the Spirit and gives us this freedom, this boldness, this courage of the Holy Spirit.”
We cannot change someone with all our skills, talents, and personal charisms but surely with the help of the Holy Spirit. A foretaste of a Pentecost is unfolding in the first reading. Courage to bear witness to the truth comes by being born in the Spirit of God. “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts.4:31).
The Responsorial Psalm praises, “Happy are all who put their trust in the Lord.” (Ps.2:12).
The Gospel invites us to be born again to be the instrument of love. We all need to be born again. Unless we are born in the Spirit, we cannot continue to be a witness to Jesus. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
The new birth phenomenon is also described as receiving new life (Rom. 6:4), receiving the circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:29; Col. 2:11–12), and becoming a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). We are baptized with water, symbolizing our dying with Christ (Rom. 6:3) and our rising with Christ to the newness of life (Rom. 6:4–5); we receive the gift of sanctifying grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27); and we are adopted as God’s sons and daughters (Rom. 8:15–17). Hence We are all truly born again by the virtue of baptism.
Fearlessness comes by the anointing. People who are born-again in the spirit cannot remain silent and doing their daily chores as usual forgetting God. The proof of being born again means to proclaim the goodness of the Lord with enthusiasm and interests.
Listening and guided by the Spirit of God is the new life in Christ. Allowing the Spirit of God to anoint us and lead us where He wants us. “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:8). May we be born again to proclaim the person of Jesus. Have a good day.