Jesus said to Nicodemus:"'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."Nicodemus answered and said to him,'How can this happen?"Jesus answered and said to him,"You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?Amen, amen, I say to you,we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,but you people do not accept our testimony.If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?No one has gone up to heavenexcept the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,so must the Son of Man be lifted up,so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
REFLECTION
"'You must be born from above.'
What does Jesus mean, we need to be born from above? In his teaching to Nicodemus, Jesus explains that in order to see God we must be born of the spirit.
We are made of flesh, but we will not see, hear, nor understand spiritual things. We need the Holy Spirit within us in order to see, hear, and be guided by Him and to live in God's Willl.
How does this happen? We receive the Holy Spirit in baptism, which makes us "children of God."
So, how do we recognize the Holy Spirit within us? We need to seek Him and invite Him into our everyday lives. Praying and singing to the Holy Spirit is a good way to start. "St. Agustine says, He is 'Beauty' ever-ancient, ever-anew." (Handbook of Joy- The Seven Secrets of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Michael J. Truong Luan Nguyen, C.Ss.R.)
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